The last time a Dakar Rally didn’t have Giniel de Villiers in the field, NASCAR still hadn’t implemented a playoff format, the United States had just overthrown the Taliban in Afghanistan, and Tom Brady was still a month away from his first Super Bowl.

2026 will be the first year that de Villiers is not at the Dakar, ending a 22-race streak dating back to 2003. The 2025 edition was his last with Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa, after which he signed a two-year contract with #TeamHilux Rally-Raid to compete in the South African Rally-Raid Championship. However, while the arrangement meant he could do the W2RC’s South African Safari Rally as well, it did not include Dakar since #TeamHilux is a privateer outfit that can’t afford the trip.

“For the first time in 22 years, December looks very different,” de Villiers commented on Tuesday.

With no Dakar, he’s instead spending the holidays on vacation and with his family.

De Villiers made his Dakar debut in 2003 with Nissan, finishing fifth. With the exception of the canceled 2008 race, he appeared at every Rally since then, winning the inaugural South American Dakar in 2009 with Volkswagen.

He became a Toyota factory driver in 2012. De Villiers holds the record for the most consecutive Dakar finishes, completing every race from 2003 to 2024. The streak ended in January when he crashed in Stage 2 then retired for good at halfway because of a neck injury sustained by navigator Dirk Von Zitzewitz.

After the 2025 Dakar, he continued racing in SARRC. De Villiers finished 16th in Ultimate at the inaugural South African Safari Rally in May.

Featured image credit: Charly López / ASO