With his 2027 Dakar Rally acceptance in hand, Ryan Nariño confirmed Tuesday that he will indeed compete in the Original by Motul subcategory.

He received his acceptance letter from the ASO in July, but had to wait until recently to hear back on if it included Malle Moto.

Part of Rally2, ObM bans assistance from teams. Ignas Daunoravičius and Justin Gerlach are among those who’ve also signed up to do Malle Moto in next January’s race.

“Definitely will be an interesting time,” Nariño remarked.

Nariño qualified for Dakar via the Sonora Rally in March followed by May’s Desafío Ruta 40. He won the Dakar Dreams challenge at the former, which meant the Sonora Rally organizers would cover $10,000 for his registration, and finished 32nd in Rally2 at the latter.

Getting the nod for Malle Moto means doing the same thing as his father Antonio over a decade ago. The older Nariño, who runs All American Rally Raid, was the only American at the 2015 Dakar Rally and also competed by himself.

To further prepare for Dakar, Nariño will run the Vegas to Reno later this month. While desert racing differs from rally raids, riding by himself in the Ironman Expert class is as close as it gets to Malle Moto in a desert environment close to home.

He won’t be the only current rally raider at the V2R either. Century Racing and Ford are respectively bringing their CR6-T and Raptor T1+, while Dakar SSV winer Brock Heger is taking part with RZR Factory Racing. Monster Energy Honda’s Preston Campbell and recently-departed HRC rider Skyler Howes are sharing a bike together. Sonora overall winner Ciaran Naran and 2026 Dakar debutant Brandon Krause will be present too.

Featured image credit: Matthew McNulty / WESTx1000