2027 Dakar Rally returns to it's roots in North Africa,

dommiek

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It's now been confirmed the 2027 Dakar Rally will now be held in North Africa.
The move follows weeks of uncertainty over whether the Dakar could safely take place in Saudi Arabia, where the escalating conflict involving Yemen's Houthi rebels has raised concerns over the safety of competitors, teams and spectators.
12 stages with a rest day, commencing on 9th January 2027.
It's nearly two decades since it was moved from N. Africa for similar reasons.
 
I saw that the other day. Should be good. Safety issues aside, the last few years have been pretty dull because there although Saudi is big, they can’t help revisiting many of the same places and culturally it not that interesting- no crowds of people like in South America and Africa.
 
That’s great news, it lost a lot of its original appeal when it moved away from its historical roots.

Just hope it’s genuine as the official Dakar Rally website still has all the information relating to Saudi?

It would also be ironic if they were now able to safely return to Africa but aren’t able to start from Paris because of the latest safety issues because of the rioting.

Keeping my fingers crossed 🙏
 
I think they started some from Lisbon, which would also be cool and would allow some European off road stages.
 
Berin said:
I think they started some from Lisbon, which would also be cool and would allow some European off road stages.
Click to expand...
Would make a great 3 day fly-ride destination if you could find a good hire shop close to the route to join in the Dakar experience.
 
I've not seen it officialy confirmed yet but some people will be in the know one way or the other and we're only five weeks from loading going to Saudi. The best guess/rumour that I'd trust is a start/prologue in Europe, straight on the ferry to north Africa and 12 stages in Morroco, total mileage 4600km. With that mileage there's going to be short stages or not much liason and a lot of sitting and waiting for the front runners, it's not going to be easy accomodating the entire caravan in Morocco these days. The entire entry probably outnumbers any other event in the region by a factor 5 or 6.
 
Rumours are a start in either Spain or Portugal. Barcelona is handling some or all of the administration so possibly it could start there as there's a ferry to Tangier Med Port in Maroc.
 
Paris hadn't been used for many years. Almost certainly the Iberian Peninsula which embraces Portugal, Gibraltar (not likely), Spain, Andorra and a small part of southern France. The start (and all the overnight stops) have to be very close to an airport. Málaga might be a sensible choice. In past years the rally has crossed the Alboran Sea from Almeria to Nador, Motrill to Melilla, and Algeciras to Tanger Med.

Dakar Rally 2027 to return to Africa for first time in nearly 20 years

enduro21.com enduro21.com

Several of us from here followed the rally on mainly GS bikes for several years when it was in Africa, including the year that Si Pavey, Charlie Boorman and Matt Hall were the official BMW team. Brilliant pre-start party hosted by BMW in Lisbon. Other UK competitors that year were Patsy Quick (Desert Rose) and Nick Plumb (Touratech). Simon Dippenhall, Steve Attwood, and I were with Charlie Boorman at the start of the Er Rachidia special stage when he was clearly fingers and thumbs trying to load a mapbook 'toilet roll'. Later that day he crashed out.

In 2007 I was halfway to the start line when it was cancelled due to fears of terrorism, but my wife had an air ticket to Senegal, so I rode through Mauritania 'like the wind', ode into Dakar to pick her up, then managed to get to the finish (solo) at Lac Rose. Twenty years later, if it comes to fruition, Dakar 2027 could be the first long-distance outing for my all-black 'Bagheera' F450GS.
 
I love the Dakar - I had to keep checking the date in the first post, it feels extraordinarily late to be announcing something as major as a change of country.

I guess they could only achieve this if it had been a long standing contingency plan? Which makes sense, I suppose.

Anyway, a win for us if we want to go and see a few stages.
 
Will be some going to organise a change of country at this late stage but it makes you realise what a feat it was in 1979 to organise such a rally.
 
That would be quite a turnaround for the Dakar Rally. North Africa is where the rally built much of its identity, so a return there would be exciting for longtime fans. Safety has to come first, though, and moving continents would be a huge logistical undertaking for the teams. It will be interesting to see which country or countries could host the stages if the move goes ahead.
 
If any bikers from the UK are interested in travelling overland to follow the Rally the logical choice in mid winter is to take the ferry from southern England to northern Spain rather than ride through France. This still leaves you with Spain to ride through. The winter weather at 1500+ metres can be brutal, so an electric jacket is 'de rigueur'.

There are no ferries from Plymouth in this period and no Portsmouth to Santander ferries, but there are two Portsmouth to Bilbao sailings on the Salamanca that could be viable:
- - Tue 29 Dec depart 22:45, arrives Bilbao Thu 31 Dec at 08:00
- - Tue 05 Jan depart 22:45, arrives Bilbao Thu 07 Jan at 08:00.

The initial route details published on the official Dakar web site includes a 'special stage' on 10 January that apparently starts in Loulé-Faro in Portugal and continues with a transfer to a port of embarkation for an overnight crossing to Nador in Oriental Morocco. The port isn't named, Málaga to Nador is a possibility, but the Motril to Nador route has been used in the distant past and is also close to Portugal. The other alternative is Almería to Nador. The crossing might be one that has been chartered especially for the Rally as I can't currently see an overnight crossing.

It would be a challenge to be in Portugal at the start and then keep up with the Rally to arrive at Bouarfa on 11 January, so if I do decide the make the trip I would probably take the ferry on 5 Jan, miss out the Portugal start and take the Almería to Nador ferry ahead of the rally arrival, then make my way to Bouarfa off-pavement across the Rekkam Plateau.


But the other issue is going to be accommodation; I've stayed in Bouarfa before and hotels are very limited, consequently the Rally teams will likely use tent villages on the airfields. I remember five of us having to share a double room in Er Rachidia in 2006 with luggage, biking boots and clothes piled in the shower room.
 
Flights, hotels and bike hire are very reasonable at the moment. £1k will you get you to Agadir and sat on a bike with seven nights hotel booked. Zagora is a days ride each way with a looped day back to Zagora, a stage to and from Agadir with rest day in between four stages all in a single week with a couple of free days to explore. Two weeks would see you to Merzouga and the southern loop for not a lot more.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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