The 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship will feature some date shuffling and rotating. While the season still begins in Saudi Arabia with the Dakar Rally, it is basically the only unaffected round on the five-race calendar.

The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which is traditionally the second race, has been moved to the final slot in November and will serve as the de facto dress rehearsal for the 2027 Dakar. Traditionally held in late February to early March, it was pushed back due to Ramadan falling between the usual time frame.

In a way, teams will have two such events to close out the year with the Rallye du Maroc as the penultimate race. The ADDC is the third different race to host the W2RC season finale after the Andalucía Rally in 2022 and Morocco since then, though 2022 was circumstantial since Andalucía was moved to the last date because of wildfires.

Like the inaugural edition in 2024, the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal is back in the spring as the new Round 2. It was moved to the fourth date for 2025.

The Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina is back for 2026 on a rotating basis with the South African Safari Rally.

“The rotation we sketched out last year will come into play in 2026 as we head back to Argentina following a jaw-dropping edition of the South African Safari Rally,” explained ASO director David Castera. “It was a ringing success. We expect the race to return the season after that because we would like to alternate between these two fantastic events.”

Morocco will be under new leadership for 2026 as Pro Dunes takes over promotion from Castera and ODC Event.

2026 W2RC schedule

#	Race	Country	Date
1	Dakar Rally	Saudi Arabia	January 3–17
2	BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal	Portugal	March 17–22
3	Desafío Ruta 40	Argentina	May 24–29
4	Rallye du Maroc	Morocco	September 28 – October 3
5	Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge	United Arab Emirates	November 22–27

Featured image credit: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool