Dakar Rally 2027: Jan. 9-23 From Portugal to Marrakech, Stage Dates

The 49th Dakar Rally will run from Saturday, Jan. 9 to Saturday, Jan. 23, 2027, from Loulé-Faro in Portugal to Marrakech in Morocco, according to Reuters and Morocco World News. Diário de Notícias, the Portuguese daily, also reports the route between Loulé-Faro and Marrakech. The event has a prologue on Jan. 9 and then 12 stages, per Autoguide.

The organizer’s own site, dakar.com, and the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) site refused automated access, so every fact here rests on at least two newsrooms, named in the text. The dates are subject to approval by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) World Motor Sport Council, Reuters and Al Jazeera both report. One report we read gives different dates and stage counts than the others; we did not use it.

Why did the Dakar Rally 2027 move to Portugal and Morocco?

Al Jazeera reports that the rally was first scheduled to run from Jan. 1 to Jan. 15 and “will now take place from January 9 to January 23”, and that the change came “due to security concerns”. Reuters says Saudi Arabia has hosted the event since 2020 and that the 50th edition in 2028 would return to the kingdom. Both Reuters and Al Jazeera report that the organizer called the move “exceptional and one-off”.

Dakar Rally 2027 stage dates, day by day

Morocco World News says Morocco hosts 11 of the 12 stages, and Al Jazeera says Morocco has 11 stages and a rest day in Agadir. Portugal has the prologue and Stage 1, per Autoguide. The table follows the day-by-day lists Atalayar and Autoguide published on Oct. 30, 2026, which agree on every date, town and distance. The weekdays are ours, computed from the dates, and the route book from the organizer was not readable.

Day	Date	Stage	Route	Timed km	Total km
Sat.	Jan. 9	Prologue	Loulé/Faro (Algarve Stadium) loop	29	129
Sun.	Jan. 10	Stage 1	Loulé loop, Algarve	100	300
Mon.	Jan. 11	Transfer	Loulé - Bouarfa, with a Mediterranean Sea voyage	0	590
Tue.	Jan. 12	Stage 2	Bouarfa - Bouarfa	390	490
Wed.	Jan. 13	Stage 3	Bouarfa - Bouarfa	410	490
Thu.	Jan. 14	Stage 4	Bouarfa - Zagora	490	750
Fri.	Jan. 15	Stage 5	Zagora - Zagora	365	540
Sat.	Jan. 16	Stage 6	Zagora - Agadir	365	760
Sun.	Jan. 17	Rest day	Agadir	0	0
Mon.	Jan. 18	Stage 7	Agadir - Smara	500	790
Tue.	Jan. 19	Stage 8	Smara - Refuge Camp	355	525
Wed.	Jan. 20	Stage 9	Refuge Camp - Smara	390	625
Thu.	Jan. 21	Stage 10	Smara - Smara	470	560
Fri.	Jan. 22	Stage 11	Smara - Marrakech	455	1,035
Sat.	Jan. 23	Stage 12	Marrakech - Marrakech	22	240
		Total		4,341	7,824

Total km is the timed special plus the liaison, the road section between timed stretches. The Jan. 11 transfer is not a stage.

How far is the Dakar Rally 2027, and which stage is longest?

Autoguide reports that the 49th edition “will cover 7,824 kilometres, including 4,341 kilometres of timed specials”. We added up Atalayar’s per-stage totals, including the 590 km transfer, and got 7,824 km. The timed kilometres add up to 4,341 km. That leaves 3,483 km of liaison. By Atalayar’s list the longest timed stage is Stage 7 from Agadir to Smara on Monday, Jan. 18, at 500 km. Stage 12 is the shortest timed run at 22 km, and the prologue is 29 km.

What is not yet announced for the Dakar Rally 2027?

Stage start times, TV and streaming have not been announced as of Nov. 4, 2026. Treat the dates and stage list above as the organizer’s plan reported by the press until the FIA World Motor Sport Council approves them.

Dakar Rally 2027 dates to mark on a January 2027 calendar

Mark Jan. 9 (prologue), Jan. 17 (rest day) and Jan. 23 (finish) on the January 2027 printable calendar or a printable weekly calendar. The stage calendar printable puts all 15 days on one sheet. Other January 2027 sports dates are in our guides to the United Cup and the Australian Open, and the 2027 Formula 1 calendar lists the motorsport season that follows.