Paul Krause is an American motorcycle legend who’s won the Baja 1000 thrice and Baja 500 on five occasions, competed in the International Six Days Enduro 11 times, and did the Dakar Rally twice. 22 years after he and Fabrizio Meoni became the final riders to race a twin-cylinder bike at Dakar, his son Brandon Krause will follow in his footsteps by making his Dakar Rally debut in 2026.

In March, the younger Krause finished fifth at the Sonora Rally in his maiden rally raid. He also won the Dakar Dreams, a new challenge in which Sonora organizers paid off $10,000 of the winner’s Dakar entry fee. While Sonora is no longer a W2RC race, it being a week-long desert rally still earned Krause 12 points in the Road to Dakar that further bolstered his chances of being accepted by the ASO.

Sure enough, he received the green light from the ASO on Friday. He wrote on social media:

Really excited to say that my entry has been accepted into the @dakarrally! Attending Dakar has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember and I’m so stoked for the opportunity to compete in 2026 like ol’ PK did back in ’98 and ‘04. I have fortunately been linked up with @basworldktmracingteam who has an incredible history at Dakar and the other world rallies, so I’m very grateful to be able to use a program that I can trust to get through such a tough race.

First, I will have to get through @rallyedumaroc in October, get a finish there and then it’s off to Saudi in January!

As he notes, he will run the Rallye du Maroc as a dress rehearsal for Dakar while BAS World KTM Racing Team will prepare his KTM 450 Rally Replica. Morocco will be his W2RC debut.

Featured image credit: WESTx1000