Tunisia is a bit different from Morocco, but Gilles Girousse was happy to bring the L’Oasis L’Original Classic across the Maghreb from its usual stomping grounds. After three years in northwestern Africa, Girousse forged an alliance with RBI Sport to race in Tunisia alongside the Fenix Rally starting in 2026.

L’Oasis, Fenix, and the Africa Eco Race also formed a pipeline network in which each race’s winner earns discounts for the other event. For example, Fenix class winners like Pierre Lafay (SSV) and Jeremy Knuiman (Enduro) can get 25% off their entry fees for the 2027 Africa Eco Race as would Sergo Mogno (cars made before 1995) and Alain Coquelle (pre-2005) for the AER Historic after topping their L’Oasis categories. Everyone else in the field can still enjoy 10% discounts for the AER.

As the “Classic” in its name suggests, L’Oasis offers vintage rally raid racing—of the speed variety too, rather than regularity—while Fenix focuses on modern vehicles. RBI occasionally sees older vehicles too, such as when Lars Jans finished 34th in Car Open at the 2024 Rallye Breslau in his Audi Quattro, but the 2026 Fenix was the first time the organizer saw so many of them thanks to the L’Oasis partnership.

Fenix and L’Oasis followed roughly the same route, though the latter diverted for Stages 2 and 5 because the dunes are too large and hard for older cars and bikes to safely traverse. Quirks from Morocco such as a simultaneous mass start also carried over for Stage 2. That wasn’t the only route deviation as the sixth and final day was truncated because of heavy rainfall and flooding.

L’Oasis also boasted two motorcycle classes. Pieter Boudrez was the lone rider on a bike produced prior to 1985 with his Yamaha XT 550, and his overall time was second quickest among classic bikes behind Gaspard Albanel’s pre-2005 KTM.

Christian Petit showed up with a Volkswagen Baja Bug that was built for Class 5 Unlimited competition in SCORE, BITD, and NORRA. Petit imported the buggy to France afterward, and it’s since gone on to compete in vintage rallies like L’Oasis and the Merzouga 1000 Classic.

The Bug finished third for pre-1995 cars, which was won by Mogno. The 2022 Dakar Classic champion is no stranger to RBI rallies, having done Rallye Breslau in a Can-Am Maverick, but was in his usual Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ80 for L’Oasis. The Toyota had been a rapid assistance vehicle for Nantes Prestige Autos at the inaugural Rallye du Maroc Classic a month prior, but L’Oasis gave the car freedom to just go fast in the Tunisian desert. It certainly did that too as Mogno won his class with a time that ranked top five overall.

Rémy Chapot’s BMC buggy, winner of the 2025 Pionniers Classic, was the fastest L’Oasis entry in the Open category.

Girousse, who respectively raced the 2025 Breslau and Fenix in a prototype Mercedes and Land Cruiser, took part in a Lada Niva. His rally started off on a poor note when a mix-up between gasoline and diesel caused him to retire from the Prologue, though he managed to continue the race without further issue. He finished fifth for pre-1985 cars. Journalist and Aventure Girousse teammate Jean-François Kerckaert, whose Toyota was built in 1989 (“back when cigarette and alcohol sponsorships were still allowed,” Kerckaert remarked; his car had Pastis 51 branding), ran 142 kilometers in Stage 2 without brakes but made it home.

François Jacquot, a Paris–Dakar Rally and Dakar Classic alumnus, raced the ’90s icon Citroën ZX Rallye Raid. It’s certainly a change of pace from the Peugeot P4 he had at the 2002 and 2003 Dakars—and remains in his posssession today as an assistance c—or even the Peugeot 404 Pickup at the Classic, but one that he’s driven since 2023. Girousse praised the Citroën as a “legendary car” and only a sign that October’s event would be the “pinnacle of rally raid”.

As for Fenix, Vincent Thijs got his redemption after finishing runner-up in 2025. Despite getting lost in the Prologue and rolling down a tune into camel grass in Stage 2, he won four stages to secure the overall.

The bike overall was a duel between Knuiman and Justin Gerlach. Gerlach, a friend and Day 1 supporter of 131 Off-Road, viewed the desert as an extra opportunity to train for his Dakar return in January. His roadbook glitched out during Stage 3 and cost him time before the same issue struck Knuiman on the penultimate day. The latter issue along with a lighter bike, having filled just the rear fuel tank to better handle the softer sand, he took the stage win and lead.

Before the last stage, Gerlach was asked by RBI to lend an adapter or Bluetooth to someone else for testing, only for it to break during such test. He and the organizers tried to fix it through a cable, but only a handful of buttons worked. The remote ultimately gave up 30 kilometers into Stage 6, forcing him to scroll with the touchscreen and losing even more ground in the process. The rest of the stage being shortened ended any hope of catching Knuiman.

“That’s just rallying, unfortunately: sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” Gerlach commented.

Fenix Rally

ATV

Finish	Number	Rider	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
1	20	Adam Krysiak	Polaris Polksa Racing Team	Polaris Scrambler	29:56:18.99
2	17	Karol Slugocki	Sidweld Rallye Team	Polaris Scrambler	31:45:36.93

Enduro

Finish	Number	Rider	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
1	21	Jeremy Knuiman	Team Knuiman	KTM 450 EXC	28:02:24.31
2	11	Justin Gerlach	JG Racing	KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica	28:05:59.61
3	14	Daan Veenendaal	De Baar Rally Team	GasGas EC 500F	29:10:10.60
4	19	Gaspard Delsart	Aravis Rallye Raid	KTM 500 EXC-F	31:53:35.74
5	23	Richard Wijntjes	De Baar Rally Team	Husqvarna FE 501	34:19:25.11
6	22	Marian Augustyn	BFK Rally Team	Fantic XEF 450 Rally	34:467:31.10
7	9	Florian Willer	Florian Willer	KTM 450 EXC	36:02:36.12
8	25	Sara Jugla	Belette du Desert	Kove 450 Rally	36:03:44.15
9	16	Pascal de Baar	De Baar Rally Team	KTM 525 EXC	36:28:06.44
10	18	Taher Fourati	Fourati Racing	KTM 450 EXC-F	36:42:00.27
11	30	Ghilane Benabdennour	Boussif Racing	KTM 450 EXC-F	37:05:31.14
12	29	Firas Guidara	SFAX Riders	KTM 500 EXC-F Six Days	38:10:13.65
13	28	Melek Abdelkafi	CSTM	KTM 450 EXC-F	38:49:13.46
14	32	Abdelkader Mebarki	Abdelkader Mebarki	KTM 450 EXC-F	43:39:25.12
15	31	Mustapha Bouchneb	Fédération Algérienne des Sports Mécaniques	KTM 450 EXC-F	55:54:07.42
16	24	Georg Reinprecht	Georg Reinprecht	Beta 390 RR Race	60:19:21.36

Car Limited

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
1	220	Karim Benhassan Krayem	Nouichi Mohamed Elmecano	Pitstop	Toyota Land Cruiser 79	33:10:24.73
2	205	Ewald Holler	Markus Bodzenta	Hekla Competition	Toyota Land Cruiser KZJ73	45:37:54.76
3	222	Ateb Ramzi	Ateb Outail	Ateb	Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ80	55:32:37.91
4	225	Ghilene Baaziz	Mohamed Kchaou	Team GB	Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ105	58:54:51.21
5	206	Abdennour Benabdennour	Abdelwaheb Dakhlaoui	Boussif Racing	Mitsubishi Pajero	91:35:00.00

Car Open

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
1	202	Vincent Thijs	Arjan van Tiel	RT Offroad Racing Team	Toyota Hilux	27:01:03.39
2	216	Vincent Vroninks	Dave Berghmans	Desert Lions Rally Team	Red-Lined VK56	27:33:22.97
3	210	Antoine Deleporte	Arnaud Lamonnier	Groland	LCR 30 Buggy	30:56:51.45
4	211	Koen Wauters	Tom de Leeur	Feryn Dakar Sport	Toyota Hilux	33:01:11.90
5	207	Alexandre Jonchere	Fabien Rouvre	Altitude Racing	Bowler Wildcat	35:52:05.57
6	214	Manuele Mengozzi	Elisa Tassile	My Racing Autosport	Toyota Hilux Overdrive	37:17:01.92
7	263	Carlo Arendt	Stéphane Besnier	Let’s Make It Happen	Nissan Navara	43:09:16.73
8	221	Med Amine Trabelsi	Nader Kchaou	Team GB	Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ80	43:22:38.53
9	209	Thomas Jolliffe	Mark Foster	JB Equipment Racing	Blackbird Industries Land Rover Defender	43:23:37.79
10	217	Magdalena Zając	Błażej Czekan	Proxcars TME Rally Team	Toyota Hilux	46:59:00.38
11	212	Pascal Feryn	Kurt Keysers	Feryn Dakar Sport	Toyota Hilux	51:20:05.82
12	224	Calin Camarasan	Ferry Fodor	Ace of Spades	Ford Ranger	52:24:06.99
13	208	Henry Ulke	Stefan Dorn	4×4 Rallye-Team	Nissan Patrol	54:36:14.49
14	215	Konrad Theobald	Ramona Theobald	Kraftverkehr Torgau	Mercedes-Benz G 55	76:48:17.88

SSV

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
1	418	Pierre Lafay	Loïc Minaudier	QT Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick R	25:18:35.63
2	441	Nicolas Martinez	Lili Delfino	Aravis Rallye Raid	Overdrive OT3	26:15:22.75
3	411	Riccardo Benettolo	Martina Musiari	Riccardo Benettolo	Taurus T3 Max	26:35:06.50
4	440	Xavier Lormand	Diego Lormand	Grand Hôtel Les Flamants Roses	Can-Am Maverick X3	27:39:29.32
5	429	Marc Lauwers	Wout Lauwers	Art of Speed	Can-Am Maverick X3	27:40:40.45
6	409	Adrien Leyreloup	Tom Fauconnet	Quad Bike Evasion	Can-Am Maverick R	27:45:01.88
7	427	Hans den Ouden	Dirk Goris	Art of Speed	Can-Am Maverick R	28:00:02.34
8	405	Rob van Horssen	Carlo Spreeuwenberg	Roca Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick R	28:23:43.66
9	424	Hanne Wilzing	Robin Pupp	Wilzing Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	30:04:26.55
10	452	Tatiana Sycheva	Kirill Shubin	Off Road Classic	Polaris RZR Pro R	30:27:36.28
11	447	Mikko Ikonen	Joni Lassila	Betomik Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	30:55:34.51
12	439	Joan Lepretre	Alain Fievet	ACR	Polaris RZR Pro R	31:15:19.93
13	415	Harrie van Empel	Stefan van Ras	De Run Trading	Can-Am Maverick X3	32:04:51.51
14	433	Dick van Culenborg	Marius Bos	DVC Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	32:05:42.68
15	416	Max van Empel	Sem van Empel	De Run Trading	Can-Am Maverick X3	32:26:13.70
16	428	Patrick Hillewaere	Jeff Melkert	Art of Speed	Can-Am Maverick X3	33:03:49.17
17	431	Luke Wakelen	Jordan Dobson	Wakelen Motorsport	Polaris RZR Pro XP	33:23:59.87
18	449	Patrick “Captain Slow” Spierings	Jan-Willem van Mourik	DeliveryBike Dakar Team Go Slow Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	33:33:18.54
19	434	Lenka Hlavatá	Markéta Srbová	Heels on Wheels	Can-Am Maverick X3	33:51:32.19
20	406	David Bord	Laura Bord	Bord	Can-Am Maverick R	34:24:04.42
21	414	Henri van Steenbergen	Daan van Ooijen	Oryx Rallysport	GPR22	34:51:34.93
22	403	Eric Culus	Carla Isidoro	Team Ricou	Can-Am Maverick X3	35:25:03.51
23	443	Philipp Rothkegel	Frank Hartwig	Flat Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	36:15:26.51
24	423	Olivier Delhoume	Theo Stutz	Le Piaf	Polaris RZR Pro R	36:18:51.62
25	408	Frédéric Henricy	Eric Bersey	AT4R	Polaris RZR Turbo R	37:04:19.10
26	451	Raoul Fenestraz	Lilimay Mansuy	Team Couteau	Can-Am Maverick X3	37:23:25.30
27	450	Hugues Lacam	Delphine Delfino	Speed Up Racing	MMP T3	39:32:15.66
28	430	Keiko Hamaguchi	Umberto Fiori	RZR Team Polaris Italia	Polaris RZR Pro R	39:35:33.97
29	410	Jens Nador	Steffan Kühne	JS Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	40:49:08.75
30	442	Guillaume Pifarre	Paco Pifarre	Aravis Rallye Raid	Polaris RZR Pro R	40:56:35.63
31	445	Alberto Matta	VIncent Ferri	Jazz Tech TEam ASD	Polaris RZR Pro R	41:24:32.35
32	432	Daniel Kersbergen	Michiel Goegebeur	Oryx Rallysport	GPR Orange Bull	41:26:59.36
33	417	Coen Nooijen	Tijs Dijk	De Run Trading	Can-Am Maverick X3	42:04:15.34
34	453	Kader Bey	Bruno Bellmas	Elbey Travel	Segway Super Villain	42:46:46.85
35	438	René-Jean Rinaldi	Tom Lepoureau	AT4R	Polaris RZR Turbo R	43:32:37.91
36	407	Gilles Roustan	Daniel Pernot	AT4R	Polaris RZR Turbo R	43:57:03.32
37	419	Pierre-Yves Magerotte	Laurent Magat	QT Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick R	44:01:25.26
38	446	Stefano Bosio	Aldo de Lorenzo	Jazz Tech TEam ASD	Polaris RZR Pro R	44:13:05.53
39	404	André Thewessen	Jeffrey Spoor	ATS Rally	Can-Am Maverick R	50:51:22.47
40	412	Sebastian Brost	Thomas Deisenhofer	JS Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	54:12:14.30
41	435	Cedric Petit	Melanie Baechle	Stand18	Can-Am Maverick X3	64:25:38.94
42	421	Stefan Kober	Martin Zeh	KTone Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR	71:28:16.59
43	422	Hanspeter Karches	Christian Lippert	KTone Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick X3	78:52:49.31
44	426	Peter Goossens	Geoffroy Noel de Burlin	Art of Speed	Can-Am Maverick R	84:15:40.76
45	448	Arjan Donders	Edwin Vloemans	Quadwinkel	Polaris RZR Turbo R	97:37:21.00
46	420	Harry Thoma	Anja Schweyer	KTone Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR	116:06:00.00

Truck

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Mechanic	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
1	502	Paolo Calabria	Loris Calubini	Carlos Alberto Vina	Eagle Racing Team	MAN TGA	38:39:27.52
2	504	Stella Körber	Sebastian Rödel	Maximilian Jackermeier	Nessi Racing	ÖAF GRÄF & Stift LKW mit Pritsche	47:56:03.96
3	505	Michael Wolff	Ricky Vina		WKR Rally Team	MAN KAT 1	91:31:33.83

L’Oasis L’Original

Bike up to 1985

Finish	Number	Rider	Manufacturer	Total Time
1	51	Pieter Boudrez	Yamaha	33:15:41.55

Bike up to 2005

Finish	Number	Rider	Manufacturer	Total Time
1	54	Gaspard Albanel	KTM	29:57:21.84
2	52	Ludovic Gager	KTM	33:41:56.90
3	53	Édouard Gager	KTM	41:42:56.63

Car up to 1985

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Manufacturer	Total Time
1	301	Philippe Dupuis	Clémence Cracosky	Toyota	45:31:52.74
2	304	Eric Vallée	Christine Vallée	Toyota	50:33:51.49
3	314	Yves Pelleteret	Nadia Pelleteret	Suzuki	53:42:58.83
4	302	Julien Aurouze	Sandrine Bolec	Mercedes-Benz	63:57:51.41
5	303	Gilles Girousse	François Costes	Lada	108:12:26.00

Car up to 1995

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Manufacturer	Total Time
1	321	Serge Mogno	Jacques Perez	Toyota	29:13:51.79
2	307	Jeremy Roiseux	François Leygue	Nissan	33:14:09.88
3	330	Christian Petit	Stéphane Darbon	Volkswagen	35:12:21.35
4	312	Patrick Gager	Xavier du Moulin	Land Rover	38:28:40.97
5	322	Jean Chassagne	Olivier Molière	Toyota	39:21:02.14
6	319	François Jacquot	Lionel Jadot	Citroën	39:45:40.73
7	338	Jean-Michel Villot	Marie Tourneur	Mitsubishi	40:07:41.47
8	309	Jean-Baptiste Fraioli	Candice Fraioli	Mitsubishi	40:11:57.32
9	305	Jean-François Kerckaert	Linda Coelho	Toyota	43:15:07.15
10	311	Cesar Valette	Daniel D’Huster	Land Rover	45:49:00.59
11	316	Regis Lacroix	Lurent Fermaud	Toyota	49:10:38.93
12	350	Felten Carsten	Marcel Decker Jochen Ullman	MAN	56:3^:12.16
13	329	Jules Mautret	Antoine Paque	Chevrolet	74:28:23.33
14	308	Johan Coupe	Lucien Bera	N/A	80:04:20.53

Car up to 2005

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Manufacturer	Total Time
1	332	Alain Coquelle	Louis Boilly-Coquelle	Bowler	25:32:37.34
2	339	Vincent Tourneur	Jean Rega	Mitsubishi	28:49:12.46
3	324	Sebastien Urlacher	Dimitry Guri	Mitsubishi	30:25:17.52
4	335	Jean-François Ryo	Marie-Aline Ryo	Toyota	31:15:22.72
5	318	Damien Delie	Corinne Delle	Toyota	33:08:1493
6	327	Alain Bellec	Johan Bourgeois	Nissan	54:49:16.56
7	320	Jean-Pierre Rousselot	Jean-Jacques Gaultier	Toyota	57:25:42.34
8	326	Pierre Gourragne	Lucas Gourragne	Nissan	57:31:51.29
9	331	David Geisinger	Aimee Cardwell	Bowler	60:52:10.69
10	385	Claude Barre	Alizee Fayolle	Mitsubishi	63:17:45.81

Open

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Manufacturer	Total Time
1	334	Rémy Chapot	Adrien Menceron	BMC	25:50:39.81
2	328	Gaétan Gé	Frédéric Alard	Bowler	26:25:56.53
3	336	Michel Salvatore	Sabrina Gimenez	Can-Am	48:34:59.51
4	340	Michel Visy	Paul Durame	Segway	70:27:43.52
5	333	Jean-Jacques Ganteaume	Ingrid Caster	Toyota	114:44:00.00

Safari

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Manufacutrer	Total Time
1	361	Enzo Donsimoni	Hugo Feugier	Toyota	60:39:25.53
2	360	Guillaume Combes	Simon Combes	Fiat	68:57:03.24

Featured image credit: RBI Media