Dakar Rally 2027 to be held in Portugal and Morocco — Al Jazeera

The 2027 Dakar Rally will be held in Portugal and Morocco after the competition was moved from Saudi Arabia due to security concerns. As Al Jazeera reports, Portugal’s Algarve region will host the prologue and the first special stage, while Morocco will host 11 stages and a rest day in Agadir.

Route and dates

Organizer Amaury Sport Organisation said that the route of the 49th edition of the rally will run from Loulé-Faro to Marrakech. The total distance will be 7,824 kilometers, of which 4,341 kilometers will be special stages.

The rally was initially scheduled to take place from January 1 to 15, 2027. Organizers now propose dates of January 9–23, but this schedule must still be approved by the World Motor Sport Council of the International Automobile Federation.

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Return to Africa

ASO described the relocation of the rally from Saudi Arabia as an exceptional, one-off decision. In 2028, when the 50th edition of the Dakar takes place, the competition is planned to return to the kingdom, which has hosted it since 2020.

Morocco will host the rally in Africa for the first time since 2008. The competition was founded in 1978 as a route from Paris through the Sahara to Dakar, the capital of Senegal. After leaving Africa for security reasons, the rally was held in South America from 2009 to 2019.