Why Dakar Rally moved to Portugal and Morocco for 2027, not Dakar

The Dakar Rally has not actually raced into the city of Dakar since 2007. For 2027 it will not even be in Saudi Arabia, where it has run every year since 2020. From 9 to 23 January 2027 the rally starts in Loulé and Faro, Portugal, and finishes in Marrakech, Morocco, covering a total of 7,824 km that includes 4,341 km of timed special stages across a prologue and 12 stages, according to the FIA. So the short answer to why it is called the Dakar Rally when it never goes near Senegal anymore is simple: the name stuck as a brand long after the route stopped matching it.

Why Dakar never goes to Dakar

The rally began in December 1977 and ran its first edition from Paris to Dakar in 1979, with 182 vehicles starting and 74 finishing the roughly 10,000 km crossing of the Sahara into Senegal, according to Wikipedia's account of the race. That Paris to Dakar route held through most editions until 4 January 2008, when organisers cancelled the entire race amid fears of attacks in Mauritania, months after four French tourists were killed there. Chile and Argentina then offered to host the event, and the 2009 edition became the first Dakar Rally held in South America, drawing 501 competitors to a continent it had never touched before. The rally stayed in South America through 2019, then moved again, to Saudi Arabia, from 2020. Three continents, one name, because by the time the race left Africa the word Dakar had become the event's identity rather than its destination.

Saudi Arabia's run breaks after six years

Saudi Arabia has hosted every Dakar from 2020 to 2026, but the FIA confirmed that the 2027 edition would not take place there, citing instability and security concerns in the region, according to a report by Atalayar that cites the organisers' own statement. ASO, the French agency that owns and runs Dakar, then announced the Portugal and Morocco route for what will be the 49th edition. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem called it a case of "the collaboration that will enable the event to go ahead in Portugal and Morocco," noting both countries' "rich sporting heritage and strong ties to cross-country rallying." Morocco carries 11 of the 12 stages and the finish, which means Dakar returns to African soil for the first time since 2007, even though it starts in Europe. Saudi Arabia is scheduled to host Dakar again in 2028, for what organisers are calling the rally's 50th edition.

What it means for India's rally crews

None of this changes the terrain Indian teams actually train for, but it does change the travel and logistics for 2027. Indian participation at Dakar goes back to 2015, when CS Santosh became the first Indian to finish the rally, placing 36th on a privateer KTM 450 before going on to ride for Hero MotoSports Team Rally. Hero MotoSports and Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team have fielded Indian riders at Dakar in most editions since, racing wherever ASO has pointed the bivouac that year, Africa, South America, or the Gulf. For 2027 that bivouac moves to the Iberian peninsula and North Africa, which should mean shorter freight runs from Europe for teams that base their service trucks there, compared with the Saudi desert editions of the last six years. For an Indian reader following the sport, the lesson from Dakar's 48 year history is that the race's name was never a promise about geography. It was a promise about difficulty, wherever that terrain happens to be that January.

Sources

• Dakar Rally, Wikipedia
• Dakar to return to Africa in 2027 as Portugal and Morocco set to host 49th edition, FIA
• 2027 Dakar Rally: official route between Portugal and Morocco, key dates and reasons for the change of venue, Atalayar
• Dakar announces Portugal and Morocco as 2027 host destinations, Autosport
• CS Santosh: The first Indian to tame the Dakar Rally, BikeWale