Dakar Rally 2026: Schedule and route for Saudi Arabian event
31st December 2025The Dakar Rally returns once more this week as the new year brings a new season of motorsport, starting with the prestigious cross-country event.
Feature image credit: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool
As the new year draws in, the motorsport world will warm up its engines with the Dakar Rally, which will get underway on Saturday, January 3, 2026 for the 47th edition of the event, and is set to go on until January 17, 2026.
It will once again be held in Saudi Arabia for the seventh consecutive time, where the crews will have to tackle the harsh terrain.
The event will once again start in Yanbu on January 3, and will end on January 17 in the same place, making it a vast loop of action across Saudi Arabia. The loop itself will feature 13 states, covering nearly 4,800km of special stage action with a total of 7,994km in total.
The prologue will officially get the action underway with a Yanbu-Yanbu warm-up, which will still play a role in the overall event, as it will help determine the running order for the opening stage.
As per the usual programme, the rally will be split into two weeks, with a rest day splitting the action in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.
There has been a change to the event compared to last year, as the 48-Hour Chrono Stage has been removed. In its place are two-day marathon stages, which will take place twice.
The first will take place in the first week of Stage 4 to 5, as the crews go from Al Ula to Hail. The second marathon stage will feature on stages 9 to 10, going from Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha.
A total of 433 vehicles will compete in the event, consisting of 812 competitors; 534 drivers and co-drivers across 197 teams.
Of the 433 vehicles, there will be: 118 motorbikes, 73 Ultimates, 46 Trucks, 38 Challengers, 43 SSV, 8 Stock, 75 Classic Cars and 24 Classic Trucks.
69 nationalities will take part in the Dakar, including support crews, with the most of those being French, followed closely by Spanish and Italians, respectively.
Additionally, 39 women will take part in the Dakar Rally, with 19 of them competing in the Dakar Classic.
Full schedule:
Prologue; Yanub-Yanub: January 3 / 23km
Stage 1; Yanbu: January 4 / 305km
Stage 2; Yanbu-Al Ula: January 5 / 400km
Stage 3; Al Ula: January 6 / 422km
Stage 4; Al Ula: January 7 (Marathon) / 451km
Stage 5; Hail: January 8 (Marathon) / 356km
Stage 6; Hail-Riyadh: January 9 / 331km
Rest Day – January 10 – Riyadh
Stage 7; Wadi Ad Dawasir: January 11 / 462km
Stage 8; Wadi Ad Dawasir: January 12 / 481km
Stage 9; Wadi Ad Dawasir-Bisha: January 13 (Marathon) / 418km
Stage 10; Bisha: January 14 (Marathon) / 371km
Stage 11; Bisha-Al Henakiyah: January 15 / 347km
Stage 12; Al Henakiyah-Yanbu: January 16 / 310km
Stage 13; Yanbu: January 17 / 105km
Read more Rally Raid here:
- Dakar 2025: Problematic roadbook note affects crews
- Dakar 2025 Heads Al Duwadimi as the rally resumes and Branch airlifted
- Dakar Rally 2025: Stage 5 completed as crews arrive in Hail to complete week 1
- Dakar 2025: Rally moves north as Sebastien Loeb rolls
- Dakar Rally 2025: 48H Chrono completed as Sainz retires
Give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the world of Motorsport! You can also support us on Patreon!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
