Africa Eco Race 2027: entries open for Jan 24 to Feb 6 rally

Dates and route confirmed for 2027

The Africa Eco Race, the rally raid that runs from Morocco to Senegal every January, has confirmed its 2027 edition. It is the 18th running of the race and will start in Tangier on January 24 and finish at Lac Rose, the pink lake near Dakar, on February 6. The organisers describe the route in three words: three countries, 12 stages, one finish line. Riders and crews will cross Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal, with this year's Moroccan leg following the road south to El Guergarat before the border crossing into Mauritanian dunes.

Entries are open now on the official registration portal. The race takes bikes, quads, cars, side by side vehicles, trucks and historic cross country cars, and it also sells a separate Raid package for crews who want to follow the route without racing it competitively. That Raid option is the entry point most amateur riders use, since it needs no international rally licence, only a capable bike, a support plan and the entry fee.

The 2026 race in numbers

The most recent edition is a useful guide to what 2027 will look like. The 17th Africa Eco Race ran from Tangier to Dakar between January 25 and February 7, 2026, also over 12 stages. It started with 172 vehicles across all categories and finished with 124. In the motorcycle class, 105 bikes started and 70 reached Lac Rose, a finish rate that says something about how hard the dunes between Mauritania and Senegal actually are.

Germany's Kevin Gallas won the bike category on a Yamaha Ténéré 700, beating the field by just 41 seconds on what organisers noted was only his third ever rally raid. That margin, after nearly two weeks of racing, is the kind of story this event is known for: a near beginner on a mid sized adventure twin taking the overall win from more experienced rivals. Car, SSV, truck and historic category winners came from the Netherlands, France and Argentina.

How an Indian rider can enter or follow it

No Indian name appears in the finisher lists or entry breakdowns published for the last two editions, so there is no record yet of a rider from India having raced the Africa Eco Race. That makes it a realistic target for anyone here who wants a Dakar style rally raid without Dakar's budget or its full competition licence requirement. The Raid category is built for exactly that kind of crew.

For those not travelling, the organisers run their own web TV coverage and post daily stage updates and photo galleries through the race's own channels and social media. The race also publishes a downloadable tracking file that lets anyone watch competitors' positions update through the day, searchable by name within each vehicle category. None of the publications on this desk's usual watch list have reported on the Africa Eco Race this year, which is itself worth noting for Indian riders who rely on them. Information on this one currently has to come straight from the organiser's own site.

Sources