Adnkronos (Adnkronos) –
Portugal and Morocco will host the 2027 Dakar Rally. Organizers of the prestigious rally announced the move today, after the event was moved from Saudi Arabia following repeated attacks on the kingdom by Yemen's Houthis. Car, motorcycle, and truck drivers will tackle the prologue and first special stage in Portugal, before continuing on to Morocco for the grueling rally's 11 stages—covering nearly 8.000 kilometers, including 4.341 kilometers of special stages.
This is the first time since 2007 that the rally, founded in 1978, has returned to Africa. "Despite the change of venue, the 49th edition of the Dakar will maintain the sporting standards that have always made this event the most demanding of endurance rallies," said race director David Castera.
Despite the limited time available, we managed to organize an authentic Dakar. Competitors will discover the kingdom of Morocco from one end to the other. We will explore all its unique features along a route of unprecedented dimensions.
The organizers of the Dakar Rally had hoped to keep the 2027 race in Saudi Arabia, working on the definition of a new route in the northern part of the country.
However, recent attacks—including the one that hit Riyadh airport this month, killing 13 and wounding hundreds—have made this impossible. In recent weeks, Houthi attacks on Saudi civilian infrastructure have reached an intensity unprecedented since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen in 2014.
The race, formerly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally, originally ran from the French capital to Dakar, Senegal. However, due to security threats along the North African route, the competition moved to South America in 2009 and, in 2020, to Saudi Arabia. Organizers have announced their intention to bring the rally back to Saudi Arabia in 2028, for its 50th edition. The Dakar Rally's relocation is just the latest sporting event in the region to be impacted by the Middle East conflict.
An exhibition tennis tournament, which was scheduled to feature Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Alexander Zverev, has been postponed until the end of December. The WTA Finals, which were scheduled to be held in Riyadh next month, will instead be held in Indian Wells, United States. This season's Formula 1 Grand Prix in Jeddah has been canceled, while the race in Bahrain was cancelled and later rescheduled, under the same name, in Malaysia. The final round of the World Rally Championship, scheduled for next month in Saudi Arabia, has also been canceled. The final two races of the F1 season, in Qatar (November 29) and Abu Dhabi (December 6), remain on the calendar for now, as does the MotoGP Grand Prix in Qatar scheduled for next month; however, their confirmation is the subject of heated internal debate. On the other hand, the highly anticipated WBC super middleweight title fight between reigning champion Christian Mbilli and Mexican legend Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will take place as scheduled in Riyadh this Saturday.
sport
webinfo@adnkronos.com (Web Info)