Saudi Arabia prepares to host the 48th Dakar Rally and opening W2RC round from a new start venue in Yanbu in January
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host the Dakar Rally for a seventh time from January 3rd-17th. The world’s most famous off-road event will kickstart the 2026 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) for a fifth season from a start and finish location in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu.
The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) has confirmed that 71 of the 159 crews taking part in the 48th running of the event will be eligible to score points in the opening round of the W2RC. This exceeds the number of registrations for the 2025 event by 21 and gives the W2RC strong foundations on which to build its fifth season.
Thirty-five crews are registered in the Ultimate category, with 18 in Challenger, 13 in SSV and five in the new Stock category for series-production cross-country machines.
Toyota Gazoo Racing are the defending W2RC Manufacturers’ champions and will aim to defend the title with current Dakar champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi, last year’s runner-up Henk Lategan and young American Seth Quintero spearheading the challenge in their latest specification GR Hiluxes.
Al-Rajhi and his navigator Timo Gottschalk are now back to full fitness after back injuries sustained in the Jordan Baja last April, while Lategan and Quintero and their respective navigators, Brett Cummings and Andrew Short, will be looking to build upon strong showings in last season’s W2RC.
Brazilian Lucas Moraes is the defending W2RC champion but has made the switch from Toyota to join the Dacia Sandriders team for the start of 2026. Moraes and his Spanish navigator Armand Monleón were triumphant in Portugal last season and Moraes managed to narrowly beat his new team-mate Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah to the Drivers’ title on the final round in Morocco.
Dacia fields four Sandriders at the Dakar: Al-Attiyah teams up with Belgian navigator Fabian Lurquin, last year’s champion navigator Edouard Boulanger sits alongside nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb and the Spanish duo of Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno crew the fourth car.
Ford Racing is making a serious push for a first ever Dakar triumph. Carlos Sainz, Joan Roma and Romain Dumas drive the three Raptors registered for the W2RC Manufacturers’ Championship and will be joined in the fourth and fifth cars by Sweden’s Mattias Ekström and American racer Mitch Guthrie.
Co-driving duties in the five Raptors falls to Lucas Cruz, Alex Haro, Alex Winocq, Emil Bergkvist and Kellon Walch.
The M-Sport Rally Raid Team will also run a Raptor for Greek veteran Jourdan Serderidis. He teams up with WRC driver Grégoire Munster, who switches to the passenger seat on this occasion. A second car will be in the hands of Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov for the first time. Czech driver Martin Prokop also drives one of the latest Raptors entered under the Orlen Jipocar Team banner.
The X-Raid team has registered the French duo of Lionel and Lucie Baud for the W2RC Manufacturers’ series in a diesel-engined version of the Mini JCW Rally.
The Trebur-based operation will also run a petrol-engined machine for Belgian Guillaume de Mévius and his returning French navigator and former Dakar winner Mattieu Baumel. The Andorra-based navigator suffered horrific leg injuries in a freak road accident in France last January and has battled back to fitness and the passenger seat with the use of a prosthetic leg. The pair tackled the recent Dubai International Baja as a valuable shakedown and won one of the special stages.
Toyota Gazoo Racing SA is chasing outright victory on this occasion with Hilux IMT Evos entered for the newly-crowned FIA World Baja Cup champion Juan Cruz Yacopini, the South African duo of Saood Variawa and Guy Botterill and Portugal’s João Ferreira. Yacopini, however, was seriously injured in a freak accident sustained while diving with friends in his native Argentina before Christmas.
In addition to working alongside the Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC team, Overdrive Racing will oversee a Toyota Hilux GR for two-time Dakar motorcycle winner Toby Price and Chilean racer Hernán Garcés.
The Polish Energylandia Rally Team is also more than capable of challenging for the top five. Young Eryk Goczal spearheads the challenge with navigator Szymon Gospodarczyk in a Toyota Hilux, alongside his father Marek and uncle Michal in two further entries.
French privateers Jean-Luc Ceccaldi (MD Optimus) and Mathieu Serradori (Century CR7), Spaniard Laia Sanz (EBRO S800 XRR) and Czech veteran Miroslav Zapetal (Ford) are among the privateers registered for the W2RC.
Defending champions Cavigliasso and Pertegarini top Challenger entry
Argentina’s Nicolas Cavigliasso and his navigator Valentina Pertegarini head a massive Challenger field that includes 18 crews chasing W2RC points.
The Taurus Evo Max crew won the title with a series of consistent results in 2025 but face competition in Saudi Arabia from the talented local driver Yasir Seaidan and Sergei Remmenik, the newly-crowned Challenger champion in the FIA World Baja Cup. Current FIA Middle East Baja Cup champion Dania Akeel drives the fourth of the leading BBR Taurus machines with support from the Odyssey Academy.
The latest of the G Rally Team G-ECKO entries will be in the hands of the Dutch duo of Puck Klaassen and Kees Koolen and Luxembourg-based Charles Munster.
The Qatar-based QMMF Team has a Taurus T3 Max for former regional rally champion Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, while Spaniard Pau Navarro, Argentina’s David Zille and the likes of Paul Spierings, Pedro Gonçalves and Pim Klaassen will be challenging for honours in their Taurus entries.
Two-time Dakar motorcycle winner Kevin Benavides makes his event debut on four wheels with a Taurus T3 Max entered in the same Odyssey Academy team as Akeel and Navarro.
X-Raid has a solitary Fenic for Italy’s Rebecca Busi and her Uruguayan navigator Sergio Lafuente. Lucas Del Rio drives the only W2RC-registered Can-Am and there are also entries for Frenchman Herve Guillaume (PH-Sport Zephyr) and Rui Carneiro (MMP T3).
Veteran former WRC star and Dakar champion Bruno Saby returns to the hot seat in a Taurus Evo Max with Benjamin Boulloud, but is not registered for the W2RC.
Can-Am Factory Team entries dominate SSV entry
While official Can-Am Factory Team entries dominate the registered crews in the SSV class, the Portuguese pairing of Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira top the field in their Polaris RZR Pro R Sport and return to defend their respective W2RC titles.
Pinto claimed maximum points at the Dakar and in Portugal in 2025, finished second in Morocco and third in Abu Dhabi and South Africa to win the Drivers’ Championship by 34 points.
Santag Racing has also entered a pair of Polaris RZRs to challenge for honours. They will be in the hands of the Portuguese duo of João Dias and Helder Rodrigues and their navigators, Daniel Jordao and Gonçalo Reis.
Francisco Lopez is a multiple Dakar champion across the minor disciplines and the Chilean spearheads the Can-Am Factory Team Latam challenge with Alvaro León in one of the latest Maverick Rs. His team mates are the Argentinean quartet of Manuel Andujar/Andres Frini and Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli/Gonzalo Rinaldi.
Portugal’s João Monteiro and the American duo of Hunter Miller and Kyle Chaney drive the three Can-Am Factory Team Mavericks, while the South Racing Can-Am Team runs cars for Maciej Oleksowicz and Richard Aczel. Privateers, Joan Pfierrer and Mindaugas Sidabras, are also registered for W2RC points.
Loeb Fraymedia Motorsport fields five Polaris RZR Pro Rs in conjunction with RZR Factory Racing but none of the crews are registered for the W2RC. Brock Heger, Gonçalo Guerreiro, Xavier de Soultrait, Florent Vayssade and Swedish rallycross legend Johan Kristoffersson drive the five cars.
Dakar legend Peterhansel tops new Stock category
French legend Stéphane Peterhansel won the Dakar six times with Yamaha on two wheels and eight times on four wheels with Mitsubishi, Mini and Peugeot. The most successful racer in the 47th-year history of the event returns this year to spearhead the new Stock category as a member of the Defender Rally team.
Peterhansel teams up with Michael Metge to drive the first of three new Defender Dakar D7x-Rs, alongside Lithuanian’s Rokas Baciuška and American Sara Price and their respective navigators Oriol Vidal and Sean Berriman.
Toyota has dominated the series-production class in recent years but the pace shown by both Peterhansel and Baciuška at the recent Dubai International Baja was impressive.
The Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body challenge lies in the hands of Akira Miura and Ronald Basso on this occasion and their navigators, Jean-Michel Polato and Julien Menard.
The route
The route for the 48th running of the world’s most famous off-road event has been heavily modified since 2025. The 2026 version switches its start location from Bisha to Yanbu and also finishes in the Red Sea port city in the Medina province of western Saudi Arabia.
This year’s route crosses 7,994km with 13 stages and 4,840 competitive kilometres (subject to final route checks).
After administration formalities in Yanbu on January 1st and 2nd, the 23km Prologue stage gets the competitive action underway on January 3rd. This precedes the opening 305km loop stage through the deserts around Yanbu on January 4th.
The route then heads to Al-Ula for a 400km second stage with the scenic old oasis town hosting the event for two nights and also a third loop stage of 422km on January 6th.
Competitors then head into the first part of a Marathon stage to Ha’il with section one offering 451km timed against the clock on January 7th and the second part running for 372km before a night halt in Ha’il on January 8th.
A long run south to Riyadh on January 9th includes a sixth stage of 331km before competitors take advantage of a rest day in the Saudi capital on Saturday, January 10th.
Action resumes on January 11th with a 462km special between Riyadh and Wadi Ad-Dawasir. The city in Najd then hosts the event for a second night with competitors tackling a daunting loop stage of 481km – the longest of the entire event – on January 12th.
They then set off towards Bisha for the first part of a second Marathon stage that runs for 410km on January 13th and concludes in Bisha after another timed section of 421km. The route then heads into the Medina Province on January 15th with a 347km stage between Bisha and Al-Henakiyah.
The sting in the tail could well be the 12th and penultimate stage of 310km between Al-Henakiyah and Yanbu on January 16th, before the event concludes on January 17th with a short 105km finale, near Yanbu.
2026 Dakar Rally – leading entries (W2RC registered only):
Ultimate
201. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (GER) Toyota Hilux GR
202. Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA) Toyota Hilux GR
211. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
223. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Dacia Sandrider
225. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Lucas Cruz (ESP) Ford Raptor
299. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Dacia Sandrider
203. Seth Quintero (USA)/Andrew Short (USA) Toyota Hilux GR
213. Saood Variawa (RSA)/François Cazalet (FRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
219. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider
221. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor
222. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL)/Mathieu Baumel (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0i
226. Mattias Ekström (SWE)/Emil Bergkvist (SWE) Ford Raptor
227. Joan Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Ford Raptor
228. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA) Ford Raptor
236. Romain Dumas (FRA)/Alex Winocq (FRA) Ford Raptor
204. Toby Price (AUS)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota Hilux GR
205. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Toyota Hilux
206. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota Hilux
207. Jean-Luc Ceccaldi (FRA)/Pascal Delecour (FRA) Optimum MD Rallye
208. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0D
209. Michal Goczal (POL)/Diego Ortega (ESP) Toyota Hilux
210. Hernán Garcés (CHI)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHI) Toyota Hilux
212. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP) Dacia Sandrider
214. Mathieu Serradori (FRA)/Loic Minaudier (FRA) Century CR7
217. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (KGZ) Ford Raptor
218. Guy Botterill (RSA)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
229. Daniel Schröder (GER)/Henry Kohne (RSA) Volkswagen Amarok
232. Laia Sanz (ESP)/Maurizio Gerini (ITA) Ebro S800 XRR
233. Isidre Esteve Pujol (ESP)/José-Maria Villalobos (ESP) Toyota Hilux
240. Joāo Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
242. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F150 Evo
250. Aliyyah Koloc (SEY)/Marcin Pasek (POL) Red-Lined Revo T1+
251. Martin Koloc (CZE)/Mirko Brun (ITA) Red-Lined Revo T1+
265. Nathan Hayashi (CAN)/Shane Hairsine (CAN) Ford Bronco Raptor
269. Jourdan Serderidis (GRE)/Grégoire Munster (LUX) Ford Raptor
Select others (not W2RC registered*)
224. Brian Baragwanath (RSA)/Leonard Cremer (RSA) Century CR7*
230. Christian Lavieille (FRA)/Valentin Sarreaud (FRA) Optimus MD Rallye*
235. Ronan Chabot (FRA)/Gilles Pillot (FRA) Toyota Hilux*
239. Khalid Al-Qassimi (UAE)/Khalid Al-Kendi (UAE) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo*
Challenger
300. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valentia Pertegarini (ARG) Taurus Evo Max
304. Yasir Seaidan (SAU)/Xavier Flick (FRA) Taurus Evo Max
331. Sergei Remmenik (ANA)/Aleksei Ignatov (ANA) Taurus T3 Max
301. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Taurus T3 Max
302. Puck Klaassen (NED)/ Augusto Sanz (ARG) G Rally Team G-ECKO
303. Kees Koolen (NED)/Jurgen van den Goorbergh (NED) G Rally Team G-ECKO
305. David Zille (ARG)/Sebastien Cesana (ARG) Taurus T3 Max
306. Pedro Gonçalves (PRT)/Hugo Maghalães (PRT) Taurus T3 Max
310. Paul Spierings (NED)/Jan Pieter van der Stelt (NED) Taurus Evo Max
316. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Taurus T3 Max
319. Herve Guillaume (FRA)/Maxime Guillaume (FRA) PH-Sport Zephyr Phase 2
321. Rui Carneiro (POR)/Fausto Mota (POR) MMP T3 Rally-Raid
323. Pim Klaassen (NED)/Mark Laan (NED) Taurus Evo Max
335. Charles Munster (LUX)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) G Rally Team G-ECKO
336. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Jan Rosa (ESP) Taurus T3 Max
338. Lucas Del Rio (CHI)/Bruno Jacomy (ARG) Can-Am Maverick WRS
340. Rebecca Busi (ITA)/Sergio Lafuente (URU) X-Raid Fenic
347. Kevin Benavides (ARG)/Lisandro Sisterna (ARG) Taurus T3 Max
SSV
400. Alexandre Pinto (POR)/Bernardo Oliveira (POR) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport
402. Francesco Lopez (CHI)/Alvaro Leon (CHI) Can-Am Maverick R
405. Manuel Andujar (ARG)/Andres Frini (ARG) Can-Am Maverick R
406. Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli (ARG)/Gonzalo Rinaldi (ARG) Can-Am Maverick R
408. João Monteiro (POR)/Nuno Morais (POR) Can-Am Maverick R
410. Hunter Miller (USA)/Jeremy Gray (USA) Can-Am Maverick R
416. Kyle Chaney (USA)/Jacob Argubright (USA) Can-Am Maverick R
428. Maciej Oleksowicz (POL)/Marcin Sienkiewicz (POL) Can-Am Maverick R
432. Richard Aczel (GBR)/Wouter Rosegaar (NED) Can-Am Maverick R
417. Helder Rodrigues (POR)/Gonçalo Reis (POR) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport
424. João Dias (POR)/Daniel Jordao (POR) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport
425. Joan Pfierrer (ESP)/Xavier Blanco (ESP) Can-Am Maverick R
427. Mindaugas Sidabras (LTU)/Ernestas Česokas (LTU) Can-Am Maverick R
Select others (not W2RC registered*)
435. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)/Fahad Al-Amr (KSA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR*
401.Brock Heger (USA)/Max Eddy (USA) Polaris RZR Pro R*
404. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR)/Maykel Justo (BRA) Polaris RZR Pro R*
407. Xavier de Soultrait (FRA)/Martin Bonnet (FRA) Polaris RZR Pro R*
412. Florent Vayssade (FRA)/Nicolas Rey (FRA) Polaris RZR Pro R*
420. Johan Kristoffersson (SWE)/Ola Floene (NOR) Polaris RZR Pro R*
Stock
500. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/Michael Metge (FRA) Defender Dakar D7x-R
502. Rokas Baciuška (LTU)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) Defender Dakar D7x-R
504. Sara Price (USA)/Sean Berriman (USA) Defender Dakar D7x-R
501. Akira Miura (JPN)/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA) Toyota Land Cruiser GR Sport
503. Ronald Basso (FRA)/Julien Menard (FRA) Toyota Land Cruiser GR Sport
Timetable of events
Thursday, January 1
Accreditation and administration, Start camp, Bisha 07.00hrs-21.00hrs
Friday, January 2
Accreditation and administration, Start camp, Bisha 07.00hrs-21.00hrs
Re-scrutineering checks, Start camp, Bisha 10.00hrs-16.00hrs
W2RC 2026 season presentation 16.15hrs-17.00hrs
Press conference, Start camp, Bisha 18.00hrs-19.00hrs
Saturday, January 3
Yanbu (Prologue – 23km) 10.30hrs
Sunday, January 4
Yanbu-Yanbu (Stage 1 – 305km) 08.20hrs
Monday, January 5
Yanbu-Al-Ula (Stage 2 – 400km) 09.15hrs
Tuesday, January 6
Al-Ula-Al-Ula (Stage 3 – 422km) 08.35hrs
Wednesday, January 7
Al-Ula-Refuge Marathon (Stage 4 – 451km) 06.35hrs
Thursday, January 8
Refuge Marathon-Ha’il (Stage 5 – 372km) 08.00hrs
Friday, January 9
Ha’il-Riyadh (Stage 6 – 331km) 06.20hrs
Saturday, January 10
Riyadh rest day
Sunday, January 11
Riyadh-Wadi Ad-Dawasir (Stage 7 – 462km) 06.15hrs
Monday, January 12
Wadi Ad-Dawasir- Wadi Ad-Dawasir (Stage 8 – 481km) 07.45hrs
Tuesday, January 13
Wadi Ad-Dawasir-Refuge Marathon (Stage 9 – 410km) 06.30hrs
Wednesday, January 14
Refuge Marathon-Bisha (Stage 10 – 421km) 07.15hrs
Thursday, January 15
Bisha-Al-Henakiyah (Stage 11 – 347km) 07.10hrs
Friday, January 16
Al-Henakiyah-Yanbu (Stage 12 – 310km) 07.30hrs
Saturday, January 17
Yanbu – Power Selective Section (Stage 13 – 105km) 11.55hrs
Finisher ceremony 14.00hrs-18.00hrs
Post-rally press conference 18.00hrs
Podium and prize giving, Yanbu 20.00hrs
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