The 47th edition of the Dakar Rally begins on January 3 in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, featuring a nearly 8,000-kilometer route with two marathon stages. Seven Chilean competitors will join in motorcycles and vehicles, including prominent names like Francisco López and Ignacio Casale. This marks the seventh time the event is held exclusively in the Asian desert.
The Dakar Rally 2026, one of motorsport's toughest challenges, kicks off this Saturday, January 3, and runs until January 17. The event starts with an opening ceremony and prologue in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, setting the starting order for the 13 timed stages spread over two weeks. A rest day is scheduled in Riyadh before the final stretches.
The route has been redesigned to total about 8,000 kilometers, with 4,840 kilometers of timed sections, making it one of the longest and most demanding editions in recent years. Key novelties include two marathon stages: one from Ul-Ula to Hail, and another from Wadi Ad Dawasir to Bisha, where competitors face consecutive days without external assistance, testing pilots, navigators, and vehicle reliability.
Chile will field a team of seven racers with diverse experience. In motorcycles, José Ignacio “Nacho” Cornejo leads as a national standout, joined by Tomás de Gavardo, son of the legendary “Cóndor de Huelquén”, and debutant Ruy Barbosa Jr. In vehicles, Francisco “Chaleco” López, a three-time Dakar winner, will race in SSV; Ignacio Casale, a four-time quad champion, returns in Challenger alongside Lucas del Río; and veteran Hernán Garcés, aged 65, will tackle his fourth Dakar in Ultimate.
This edition highlights the Dakar's shift from its African and South American roots, where Chile was a key hub in past runs, to its establishment in Saudi Arabia since 2020.
