The 2026 Dakar Rally was a rally raid event that took place from 3 to 17 January 2026 in Saudi Arabia. It is the 48th edition of the Dakar Rally, organized by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), and the 7th time Saudi Arabia has hosted the event.
The event featured as the first round of the 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship. Nasser Al-Attiyah won the rally in the cars class, his sixth victory in the event. Argentinian rider Luciano Benavides took victory in the bikes category.
Background The presentation and race outline will take place on 13 November 2025 in Paris, France.
This year, the route will start and finish in Yanbu passing through Ha'il's desert stages, Al-Qassim, and to Riyadh for the rest day. Notably skipping the Empty Quarter, the rally will head west to new regions previously unexplored by the event to Al-Bahah, Aseer, and Jizan.
The race will consist of 14 days of racing, divided into the prologue and 13 stages. There will be four loop stages and four split route stages in two back-to-back pairs, with the cars and trucks taking a separate route to the bikes.
Competitors face a hybrid 48h Chrono/marathon on stage four, with a bare-bones bivouac where mutual assistance is permitted without time limits and class T5.2 trucks reach the bivouac to assist competitors. Stage nine to 10 will be a more traditional marathon still with a minimal bivouac.
Alternative zero-emission or hybrid drives are represented again by the Mission 1000 category now in its third year.As of 5 December, after scrutineering.
Timeline
7 June–20 October 2025: Registrations open. 27–29 November 2025: Scrutineering and vehicle loading in Barcelona. 30 December 2025: Vehicle offloading in Yanbu. 1–2 January 2026: Final scrutineering in Yanbu. 3 January 2026: Starting podium and the Prologue Stage. 17 January 2026: Race finish and finish podium.
Entry List Number of entries
StageBikesCarsStockChallenger (T3)SSV (T4)TrucksTotalClassic CarsClassic TrucksTotal ClassicEntry list116738374146321752297At start line115727374145317752297Rest day99657354040286741892Finished90607333022242731891
Vehicles and Categories
The 2026 event allows for the entry of SCORE class vehicles - only one competitor entered with this type of vehicle. It also makes the distinction between turbocharged and naturally aspirated vehicles the Challenger (T3) class . Bikes Cars Stock Challenger SSV Trucks Classic Cars Classic Trucks Class Description Class Description Class Description Class Description Class Description Class Description Description Class Description Class RallyGP FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (up to 450cc) T1.+ Ultimate Prototype Cross-Country Cars 4x4 STK Stock Series Production Cross-Country Cars CHG1 Lightweight Prototype Cross-Country Vehicles (turbo up to 1,050cc) SSV1 Cross-Country Side-by-Side (SSV) Vehicles turbo up to 1050cc and atmo from 1050cc to 2000cc T5.U “Ultimate” prototype Cross-Country Trucks −86 Low Average H1.A −86 Low Average H1t.A Rally2 FIM World Rally-Raid Cup (up to 450cc) T1.1 Ultimate Prototype Cross-Country Cars 4x4 T2.1 Stock Production Cross-Country Cars CHG2 Lightweight Prototype Cross-Country Vehicles (NA up to 1,050cc) SSV2 Cross-Country Side-by-Side (SSV) Vehicles atmo up to 1050cc T5.1 Prototype and Production Cross-Country Trucks −86 Moderate Average H2.A −86 Moderate Average H2t.A T1.2 Ultimate Prototype Cross-Country Cars 4x2 T2.2 Stock Production Cross-Country Vehicles with expired certification T3.U Lightweight Prototype Cross-Country Vehicles T4 Modified Production Cross-Country Side-by-Side T5.2 Race Service Trucks −86 Intermediate Average H3.A 86–98 Low Average H1t.B T1.3 SCORE Cross-Country cars CHGS SCORE UTV vehicles 86–98 Low Average H1.B 86–98 Moderate Average H2t.B ULTS Ultimate SCORE Truck or Buggy vehicles 86–98 Moderate Average H2.B 99-05 Low Average H1t.C 86–98 Intermediate Average H3.B 99-05 Moderate Average H2t.C 86–98 High Average H4.B 99-05 Moderate Average H2.C 99-05 Intermediate Average H3.C 99-05 High Average H4.C
Competitor list
Note – "Dakar Legends": competitors that participated in 10 or more Dakar events. – "Rookies": competitors who will participate for the first time. – Competitors that were not able to start the race. – "Original by Motul" — Competitors participating in the "Original by Motul", previously known as "Malle Moto", a marathon class with limited assistance.VJW – Subclasses for Veteran, Junior, Women.