The Fédération Internationale de l’Car (FIA), the worldwide governing physique for motor sport and the federation for mobility organisations worldwide, has introduced that the five-round 2027 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship calendar has been authorised by e-vote of the World Motor Sport Council.
The championship will as soon as once more span three continents, bringing collectively a few of rally-raid’s most established occasions alongside newer fixtures which have develop into an integral a part of the sequence. The forty ninth version of the Dakar Rally will start the season in Saudi Arabia from 1 to fifteen January, persevering with its function because the championship’s conventional opening spherical.
Following a break of greater than two months, the Abu Dhabi Desert Problem will return to its established place because the second spherical of the 2027 marketing campaign. The occasion will happen within the United Arab Emirates from 21 to 26 March.
The championship will then journey to Africa for the return of the South African Safari Rally, which rejoins the calendar following a one-year absence. Its second version shall be held from 14 to 19 June, taking on from Argentina’s Desafío Ruta 40 as a part of the continued alternation between the 2 occasions.
Competitors will resume in Europe following the summer time break, with the bp Final Rally-Raid Portugal retaining its place on the calendar for a fourth consecutive season. The occasion will happen from 21 to 26 September.
The marketing campaign will conclude in Morocco, the place the twenty eighth Rallye du Maroc will host the championship finale from 24 to 29 October. The 2027 calendar has been structured to offer better restoration and preparation time between occasions whereas supporting extra environment friendly logistical preparations for groups and opponents.
Remaining within the Center East following the Dakar Rally will permit autos and gear to be transferred overland to the Abu Dhabi Desert Problem. The interval between the opening two rounds may even present opponents with extra time to get well and put together following the championship’s longest and most demanding occasion.
The South African Safari Rally will happen seven weeks after the Abu Dhabi Desert Problem and is positioned to align with the maritime switch of apparatus in the direction of Europe. Three months will then separate the South African spherical from the bp Final Rally-Raid Portugal.
A four-week interval between Portugal and the season finale in Morocco will present groups with greater than double the preparation time accessible between the corresponding rounds in 2025. By concluding on the finish of October, the championship may even go away two full months earlier than the beginning of the 2028 Dakar Rally.
President of the FIA, H.E. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, mentioned: “The FIA World Rally-Raid Championship goes from power to power, welcoming rising numbers of followers, new producers, and opponents to races world wide.
“From the sands of Abu Dhabi and Dakar to the difficult terrain of Morocco and Portugal, this 12 months’s calendar additionally marks the return of the long-lasting South African Safari Rally, following a profitable debut in 2025. The Championship is a novel problem in world motorsport and I sit up for one other thrilling 12 months of rallying forward.”
David Castera, Motorsport Director of Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.), mentioned: “The 2027 calendar presents a robust line-up, bringing collectively rally-raid’s main occasions alongside the 2 rallies created particularly for the championship, which have now develop into firmly established fixtures.
“The experience of their organisers ensures the best sporting requirements whereas additionally offering the capability to welcome extra opponents. Bettering the championship’s accessibility has been a key focus.
“Though the sequence of occasions returns to a extra conventional order, it does so with a wholly new rhythm. The extra gaps between rounds will assist groups and opponents cut back prices and combine their rally-raid programmes extra simply into their wider competitors schedules.
“Collectively, these components ought to assist preserve the championship’s upward trajectory when it comes to participation.”
