For the first time in the history of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), the decision falls in the United Arab Emirates. The 35th Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, running from 22 to 27 November, is the fifth and final round of the 2026 season. The organisers are sending the field on a there-and-back journey across the full width of the emirate: 1,931 kilometres, of which 1,326 kilometres against the clock.
Entries close on Friday 6 November, with the official entry list to follow on 12 November. The fact that this year’s finale takes place in Abu Dhabi has a practical cause. The Desert Challenge was traditionally scheduled in February or March, right after the Dakar, but because Ramadan fell during that period in 2026, the event moved to late November. With that, the rally returns to the autumn slot it held for years during the era of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. After the Andalucía Rally (2022) and the Rallye du Maroc (2023 through 2025), Abu Dhabi is the third rally to close out the W2RC season.
From Al Ain to the western tip and back
Al Ain, in the east of the emirate against the border with Oman, serves as both start and finish location for the first time. Last year the rally departed from there for the first time; the finish was then still in the capital. The emirate’s second-largest city is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and, thanks to its six oases and 1,200 hectares of palm forest, is also known as the garden city.
Two locations make their debut. Madinat Zayed, capital of the western Al Dhafra region, is the central bivouac and hosts the finish of three of the five stages. Al Dhafra covers more than seventy percent of the emirate’s territory. Further west lies Al Sila, almost at the emirate’s western tip, where the marathon camp is set up by the sea. As last year, both bikes and cars take part in the marathon, during which the teams have no access to their own assistance.
Fewer dunes, more navigation
The programme consists of a FIM prologue and an FIA shakedown, followed by four point-to-point stages and one loop stage around Madinat Zayed. Striking for a rally that owes its name to the desert: according to the organisers, only 23 percent of the route consists of dunes. Sand tracks and off-piste terrain account for 44 percent, supplemented by 12 percent unpaved roads, 8 percent chotts (dry salt flats) and 4 percent rocky sections. Those percentages add up to 91 percent, incidentally; the organisers do not reveal what terrain makes up the remaining nine percent.
The first two stages head west, roughly along the Tropic of Cancer, with new and rocky terrain towards the Al Sila peninsula. Faster tracks with multiple possible lines are meant to make navigation count for more, above all on stages 2 and 3. Stage 4 is a bundling of the most spectacular dune sections of the Liwa desert, deep in the south towards the Rub al-Khali, the Empty Quarter. The closing stage back to Al Ain runs through new areas and ends at the great dunes of Al Qua’a, last year’s location of the marathon bivouac.
For the cars, which do not run a prologue, the total comes to 1,854 kilometres, of which 1,319 kilometres of special stage. At 330 kilometres, the stage to Al Sila is the longest special stage of the week.
Quintero leads, Dacia bows out
Among the cars, Seth Quintero (Toyota Gazoo Racing) with co-driver Andrew Short enters the finale as leader. After the Desafío Ruta 40 in May, the 24-year-old American also won the Rallye du Maroc, taking over the lead in the championship as the youngest leader ever. He has 134 points, 13 more than Sébastien Loeb. Loeb’s Dacia teammate, Nasser Al-Attiyah, follows 19 points back. In Morocco, Loeb lost a wheel on the final day a few hundred metres from the finish while leading the stage.
Among the cars, a maximum of 55 points are available in Abu Dhabi: 30 for the rally win and five points per stage for the fastest, across five stages. That means João Ferreira (48 points back) and Henk Lategan (49 points back) mathematically still have a chance, though it would require an almost complete failure from Quintero. For Dacia, Abu Dhabi is the final rally: the brand announced in February that it would halt its rally-raid programme after this season, despite Al-Attiyah’s Dakar win in January. Al-Attiyah has won the Desert Challenge five times, most recently in 2025, the first edition to depart from Al Ain. Among the constructors, Dacia leads, but Toyota is back in the fight after its all-own podium in Morocco.
In the Stock class, the title has already been settled: Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Vidal (Defender) were crowned champions after Morocco. In the Challenger class, Portugal’s Alexandre Pinto took over the lead in Morocco after the retirement of Puck Klaassen, who had led the standings until then.
Four riders can still take the title
Among the bikes, points are awarded solely on the basis of the final classification, with 25 points for the winner. Defending champion Daniel Sanders (KTM) has 87 points and leads by 13 points over his teammate and Dakar winner Luciano Benavides and over Tosha Schareina (Honda), who both sit on 74 points. Ricky Brabec (Honda) follows 17 points back. If Benavides or Schareina wins in Abu Dhabi, a fourth place suffices for Sanders. Brabec has a chance only if he wins and Sanders drops far back. Sanders won the Desert Challenge in 2025.
The Rallye du Maroc was won by Edgar Canet, who at 21 became the youngest winner ever of that rally and the first Rally2 champion to score a win in the premier class. For the title, however, he falls short. In the Rally2 class, Martim Ventura (Honda) holds a comfortable lead after two consecutive wins. Among the constructors, KTM has a 23-point lead over Honda.
Finale in a restless region
The finale takes place against a restless backdrop in the Gulf region. The WRC cancelled the Rally of Saudi Arabia earlier this autumn, and according to reporting in Spanish and Dutch media among others, ASO has informed the teams that the 2027 Dakar will relocate to Europe and Morocco due to the security situation, from 9 to 22 January. An official announcement of this was still pending at the time of writing. On the Desert Challenge itself, the organisers report no changes: EMSO and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council confirmed the dates and programme in late September. For the teams, the late finale also means there are less than six weeks between the final stage in Al Ain and the start of the next Dakar.
Programme
All times local (GMT+4, three hours ahead of the Netherlands)
- 21 and 22 November: administrative and technical scrutineering
- Monday 23 November: stage 1, Al Ain – Madinat Zayed (336 km, special stage 226 km)
- Tuesday 24 November: stage 2, Madinat Zayed – Al Sila marathon camp (389 km, special stage 330 km)
- Wednesday 25 November: stage 3, Al Sila marathon camp – Madinat Zayed (401 km, special stage 286 km)
- Thursday 26 November: stage 4, loop around Madinat Zayed (351 km, special stage 258 km)
- Friday 27 November: stage 5, Madinat Zayed – Al Ain (377 km, special stage 219 km); prize-giving at 18:30, followed by the W2RC season awards ceremony at 19:30
