New location to be announced soon
Dakar Rally organizers announced the 2027 competition will not be run in Saudi Arabia due to security concerns. The 2027 Dakar Rally is currently scheduled for January 1-15, but with the region currently sustaining strikes from Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC) decided to be proactive and move the event to a new host territory to be announced in the coming days. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) have both backed the move.
The ASO and SMC described the decision as "exceptional and one-off," and Saudi Arabia is still slated to host Dakar in 2028, which would mark the Rally's 50th edition. Both organizations say they are already working together on that milestone.
The ASO, a privately-owned French company that also runs the Tour de France and the World Rally Raid Championship, will remain the organizer of the 2027 Dakar Rally, wherever it will take place. The ASO says it is working directly with competitors, teams and partners to manage the transition, which is important as a lot of the logistics for Saudi Arabia have already been arranged.
Where the rally goes next is the open question for everyone building bikes and plotting logistics around it. According to various reports in the Spanish media, one preferred option is to start the Dakar Rally in Spain and finish in Morocco, which would return the event to African soil for the first time since 2007.
The Dakar Rally is no stranger to making changes due to security concerns. The event originally began in 1978 as a rally from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal. From 1992 to 2007, the route made some modifications, and did not always start in Paris or end at Dakar. The 2008 Dakar Rally was called off a day before the intended start, following a Christmas Eve attack in Mauritania that killed four French tourists.
Escalating security concerns in North Africa led to the Dakar Rally's move to South America from 2009 to 2019, before the Rally moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020.
Become a Motorcycle.com insider. Get the latest motorcycle news first by subscribing to our newsletter.