Madar (International) - The Dakar Rally will return to Africa for its 49th edition because of the situation in the Middle East, and in particular in Saudi Arabia, where the race has been held since 2020, three people involved in the World Rally-Raid Championship told Reuters on Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
According to the sources, two drivers and a team manager, the race will start in Europe with a prologue in Spain or Portugal before heading to Morocco for the rest of the event, which is expected to feature around 12 stages and is scheduled to run from January 9 to 22. Organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and the international automobile and motorcycling federations did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who have stepped up attacks on Saudi cities, airports and energy infrastructure, forced the organisers to adapt their plans, the agency said. A strike on Riyadh's international airport on October 10 killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300.
The rally was originally scheduled for January 1 to 15, with a record 5,320 km of timed stages, in what would have been its eighth edition in Saudi Arabia. The event began in 1978 as a race from Paris across the Sahara to Dakar, and was later staged in South America between 2009 and 2019 after leaving Africa for security reasons.
