After hosting vintage bike adventure raids in Morocco and Tunisia, SandRaiders is finally going big. In 2027, the organizers will host a tour following the legendary Paris–Dakar Rally route from France to Senegal.

The raid will run from February 20, 2027, to March 14. Registration is open with €12,000 in entry fees.

“SANDRAIDERS PARIS to DAKAR is a motorcycle adventure inspired by the first raids of the 1980s, where navigation becomes instinct,” explains the SandRaiders website. “Long and demanding stages make us truly feel the desert: surfing dunes and riding legendary tracks. The spirit of exploration and self-improvement is always present.

“This is not a competition. It is about living a raid as Thierry Sabine imagined it.”

In Paris, the event begins with administrative checks and a welcome ceremony that includes a tribute to Sabine. After the Prologue, those who want to follow the Dakar route as close to the original as possible can go to Orléans for a night stage.

Otherwise, the raid will then head to Sète to ferry everyone’s bikes to Nador. There will be a week-long break to allow for transport, though participants can also choose to stay home if they don’t want to make the trip to Africa. The tour will go through Morocco’s Rekam Plateau and Mauritania before reaching the final stretch in Senegal.

As noted by the organizers, SandRaiders is not a race. While riders will navigate the course on their own as they would in an actual rally, it is an adventure tour at the end of the day so everyone travels together.

Being a vintage raid, all motorcycles must be built before 2000 with an engine displacement of more than 350cc and a minimum range of 200 kilometers.

While the Dakar Rally stopped being Eurafrican in 2009, many rallies have tried to retrace that path. The Africa Eco Race is the most notable example and an actual competition unlike SandRaiders. The Real Way to Dakar also follows the route, and was a non-competitive event for its revival in 2026 but will shift to actual racing in 2027.

SandRaiders will host its Moroccan raid from April 25 to May 3, followed by Tunisia on November 7–15.

Featured image credit: SandRaiders