In the world of rally-raid, collaborations between organisers are rare. All the more notable, then, is the recently announced alliance between three parties, each with its own distinct identity: the Africa Eco Race, the Fenix Rally by RBI Sport, and the historic event Loasis L’Original by Gilles Girousse. Under the banner Driven by the Same Spirit, the three organisations aim to offer a structured pathway for participants who want to experience rally-raid the way it was originally intended, with navigation, adventure, and authenticity at its core.
To understand the collaboration, it helps to know each event individually.
Africa Eco Race
The Africa Eco Race was founded in 2008 by three legends of cross-country rallying: Jean-Louis Schlesser, Hubert Auriol and René Metge. The event runs from Europe through Morocco and Mauritania to Senegal, finishing on the iconic shores of Lac Rose in Dakar. The 17th edition in 2026 attracted no fewer than 289 entries from 27 nationalities, a record for the organisation.
Fenix Rally
The Fenix Rally is a product of RBI Sport, the company of Bulgarian organiser Alexander Kovatchev, which also runs well-known events such as the Rallye Breslau and the Balkan Offroad. The Fenix Rally offers a compact and accessible rally in Tunisia, with a prologue followed by seven stages through sand, dunes and plains, combined with roadbook navigation. The 2026 edition takes place from 23 to 31 October.
Loasis L’Original
Loasis L’Original is the brainchild of Gilles Girousse, a well-known name in the off-road world. After three editions in Morocco, the event moves to Tunisia for its fourth edition in 2026, featuring seven stages and approximately 2,000 kilometres of special stages. The event focuses specifically on historic vehicles and replicas, divided into categories based on year of manufacture. The concept behind it is to revive rally-raid as it existed in the 1980s and 1990s, with vehicles of that era competing on real-time stages.
What does the collaboration actually entail?
The core of the alliance is creating a logical progression for participants: starting with the Fenix Rally in Tunisia as a training ground, then stepping up to the Africa Eco Race as the ultimate challenge on the African continent. In 2026, Loasis L’Original will run alongside the Fenix Rally in Tunisia, meaning modern and historic vehicles will line up at the start simultaneously.
Participants who enter both the Fenix Rally and the Africa Eco Race will receive preferential entry conditions. Further benefits will be communicated at a later stage, which means the practical details of the collaboration are not yet fully clear. That is worth noting: the announcement currently rests heavily on messaging and atmosphere, while the specifics are largely still to follow. Loasis L’Original participants will specifically benefit from access to the historic category of the Africa Eco Race, including advantages yet to be determined.
A shared philosophy, built on personal connections
The collaboration is clearly rooted in personal relationships. Kovatchev and Jean-Louis Schlesser have known each other for years through the FIA Cross Country Rally Commission. The connection with Anthony Schlesser came via Girousse, who acted as a mutual friend. In the rally-raid world, it is not unusual for alliances of this kind to be built on personal trust, though it also means their long-term durability depends on those personal ties.
In terms of content, the three events share an explicit aversion to the direction that major rally-raids like the Dakar have taken: more factory teams, higher budgets, and less emphasis on navigation and human adventure. The organisers position their collaboration explicitly as an alternative to that model, more accessible, more authentic, and with greater room for the individual competitor.
A realistic perspective
The ambition is understandable, and the values being championed resonate with a growing group of rally-raid enthusiasts who no longer feel at home in the professionalised upper echelons of the sport. The Fenix Rally has quickly built a recognisable identity in Tunisia, the Africa Eco Race has long been regarded as the most authentic major African rally-raid still in existence, and Loasis L’Original fills a niche that barely anyone else addresses.
At the same time, the collaboration remains, for now, primarily a joint positioning statement with promises of benefits to come. It is up to the organisers to make clear in the coming months what participants will actually gain from this alliance, both financially and in substance. The rally-raid world has seen promising partnerships founder on logistical and commercial realities before.
Those already familiar with all three events will recognise the common thread. Those who are not will now have a clear starting point: Tunisia in October 2026, with the Africa Eco Race on the horizon.
