Following the announcement that Dakar 2027 will not run in Saudi Arabia, DirtFish sources have confirmed a route running from Portugal into Morocco, starting in the second week of January.
Dakar organizer Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) confirmed a one-off switch away from Saudi Arabia on Sunday. A.S.O. and the governing body of world motorsport, the FIA, stated the decision followed “recent developments in the region.”
One source close to A.S.O. told DirtFish: “It’s been very, very complex. The position [of the A.S.O.] was very difficult, trying to continue with the plan to make the route in Saudi, but having to understand that the possibility was becoming less as we are seeing from news channels around the world.
“The teams, everybody, all stakeholders were talked to and we needed to understand what feelings were. I think it’s impossible for A.S.O. to consider not to run Dakar – it’s like a world cup for off-road racing. But there were, of course, concerns from lots of different ways.
“During the [World Rally-Raid Championship] round in Morocco, the team was working hard on a route which could work for Dakar. Now we know it comes from Portugal and goes back to Africa – it’s like a classic Dakar route, but it stays only in Morocco. To achieve what it planned is something incredible for A.S.O., to make, effectively, two Dakar routes at the same time is what was needed and A.S.O. did it.”
DirtFish understands the revised route is planned for January 9-22, allowing A.S.O. an extra week to put everything in place.
A.S.O. said it will reveal this one-off route in the coming days, with the expectation of a return to Saudi Arabia for the 50th anniversary Dakar in 2028.
The decision to start from Portugal brings Europe’s Dakar story full circle; the 2008 event was cancelled one day out from its start in Lisbon, due to security concerns further down the route in Mauritania. The following year, A.S.O. moved the Dakar out of Europe and Africa to South America, where it remained until it was hosted in Saudi for the first time in 2020.
