Dakar Rally 2027 moves out of Saudi Arabia: Here's what happened

The Dakar Rally has announced that its 2027 edition will not be held in Saudi Arabia, although the event will still go ahead in a different country. The rally will return to the Kingdom in 2028 for its landmark 50th edition.

Dakar organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC) said the decision was taken jointly after “recent developments in the region.” The 2027 rally had been scheduled from January 1 to 15, 2027.

In a post on X, the official Dakar account described the move as an “exceptional and one-off” decision, made in coordination with the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) and with the support of motorsport governing bodies FIA and FIM.

New host yet to be announced

ASO confirmed that Dakar 2027 will proceed as planned but in “a different territory". The new host country will be announced separately in the coming days.

The organisers said they are in direct contact with competitors, teams and partners to help them manage the transition. No replacement venue, route details or exact dates were disclosed in the announcement.

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Return planned in 2028

Saudi Arabia will host Dakar 2028, which will mark the rally’s 50th running. ASO and SMC said both organisations are already working together to make that edition “an exceptional moment” for the event and the Kingdom.

The statement also reaffirmed the long-term partnership between ASO, SMC and SAMF, with all three organisations committing to continue developing motorsport in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s Dakar era

Saudi Arabia has hosted seven consecutive editions of the Dakar Rally since 2020. The event has used routes across the Kingdom, showcasing its deserts, mountains and varied terrain while drawing competitors from around the world.

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The 2027 relocation is a major logistical and sporting development for the world’s toughest rally-raid event, which features cars, bikes, quads, trucks and challenger-class machinery competing over punishing off-road stages. The announcement did not specify the reason beyond “recent developments in the region".

Impact on West Asia events

Several motorsport events in the Middle East have been postponed or cancelled since the war broke out in the region at the end of February. While Formula 1 and MotoGP are pressing ahead with their races in Qatar, and Abu Dhabi is set to host F1’s season finale, Saudi Arabia’s sporting calendar has become more precarious after Iran-backed Houthis attacked key areas in the country, including Riyadh Airport this month.

Formula E’s Gen4 era is also scheduled to begin in Saudi Arabia, with the Jeddah Street Circuit due to host the opening round of the 2026-27 season on December 18-19.