Murun Purevdorj will return to the Dakar Rally in 2026, this time with a shiny White Tiger trophy accompanying him. Next year’s race will be his second time competing in the event.

Purevdorj is fresh off winning the Silk Way Rally’s Moto overall in July. He and Ilya Shcheglov initially battled for much of it until the latter crashed as the race crossed into Purevdorj’s native Mongolia. With his primary rival out of the picture, he raced more conservatively yet still won six stages to secure the victory.

He had finished second in the 2024 Silk Way. Six months later, he was off to Saudi Arabia for his debut in what he’s described as the “Olympics for motorsports”.

It didn’t take long for Purevdorj to get busy. He and Abdulhalim Almogheera towed Mason Klein’s bike after he suffered an engine failure during the Chrono Stage, then was set back by a gearbox failure in Stage 7. He managed to rebound two stages later by finishing as high as 20th in class.

By the end, Purevdorj was 66th in Rally2 and 76th overall. He is the sixth Mongolian to complete the Dakar.

The 2026 Dakar Rally will take place on January 3–17.

Featured image credit: Silk Way Rally