Press Release | October 6, 2024
The five-round 2025 FIA-FIM World Rally-Raid Championships schedule kicks off January 3-17 with the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia January, followed by Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge February 21-27. A new event—South African Safari Rally—is set to premiere in the midseason, May 18-24, and the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal is returning after its inaugural edition last year. The Rallye du Maroc will again wrap up the series October 10-17.
Here is the complete press release from the race organizers…
Photos Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool
The Dakar will once again get the show on the road in Saudi Arabia in January. Next up will be the dunes of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which will bring down the curtain on the Middle Eastern act in late February. The Rallye du Maroc, another event that has been on the calendar since 2022, will continue to wrap up the series in October. In contrast with these classic bookends, winds of change are blowing in the midseason. The BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal is returning after its inaugural edition last year, but it will now come at the tail end of the season, moving from April to late September to set up a Portugal-Morocco one-two combo. The two weeks between the finish of the Portuguese rally and the start of the Moroccan race will provide ample time for the teams to cross the Mediterranean by ship.
Tobias Ebster is seen at the first stage of Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2024 in Abu Dhabi , UAE on February 27, 2024.
The W2RC serves up a fresh challenge every season, and 2025 is no exception. A brand-new race is set to make its debut in the cradle of rally raids. The South African Safari Rally, the latest addition to the calendar, will take up the third slot of the series in late May. Just like the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal in 2024, the South African round is the brainchild of an experienced organiser eager to host the W2RC. The team in charge of the South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) will roll out the red carpet for the international caravan in South Africa to bring back the memories of the 1992 Paris–Cape Town rally! It will be the first time in the history of the W2RC that Africa sets the scene for two championship rounds.
Kevin Benavides of Red Bull KTM Factory Team races during stage two of Rally Dakar 2024 from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi, Saudi Arabia on January 07, 2024.
Dakar Rally
Organized for the first time in 1979, originally from Paris to the Senegalese capital, then in South America from 2009, and since the 2020 edition in Saudi Arabia, the Dakar is an iconic event which severely challenge the abilities of its competitors.
Biggest rally-raid in the world, the Dakar Rally is traditionally the first round of the FIA-FIM World Rally Raid Championship since its creation in 2022. A competition of extremes and an orienteering race, the Dakar brings together the leading rally raid riders and drivers, as well as amateur competitors who come to experience an adventure and face an exceptional challenge, sometimes the challenge of a lifetime.
The 2025 edition (3-17 January) from Bisha to Shubaytah will be one for the tough ones, featuring the return of the 48h chrono, a traditional marathon stage and a three-day adventure in the Empty Quarter, where the race will come to an end.
The Dakar is an important event for the protagonists of the FIA-FIM World Rally Raid Championship as it is the only marathon event of the 2025 calendar. Competitors will give their best on the Saoudian tracks since the Dakar allows them to score decisive points as they seek out their W2RC titles.
Toby Price on his KTM during the Stage 11 of the Dakar 2024.
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, one of the world’s oldest international cross-country rallies, organized by Emirates Motorsports Organization (EMSO), was founded in 1991 by Emirati motorsport legend and current FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
The event rapidly gained global fame with all the biggest names in international motorsport attempting to conquer the dunes of the UAE’s unforgiving Rub’Al Khali Desert, also named Empty Quarter, the world’s largest sand ocean.
Toby Price in stage five of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2023
34 years in, and thanks to the patronage of Abu Dhabi’s Government through the strategic partnership with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and energy partner ADNOC Distribution, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge respects the highest safety and organizational standards, where participants can benefit from Abu Dhabi’s world-class infrastructure. Today, the Desert Challenge is considered by competitors to one of the most technical race on the calendar.
Celebrating its 34th edition, the event continues to innovate. After discovering the Al Dhafra area in 2023, the introduction of a second rally bivouac in Mezaira’a in 2024, the 2025 edition will also bring plenty of novelties which will be released in the coming weeks.
Toby Price, stage one of 2024 Rally Dakar Rally.
South Africa Safari Rally
The third round of the W2RC 2025 will be held from May 18-24 in South Africa for the first time in the history of the championship. Organized by the South African Rally Raid Championship, the South African Safari Rally will bring back the memories of the 1992 Paris-Cape Town Rally, last international cross-country rally organized in South Africa.
Competitors will discover Africa as never seen it before: from the fast open tracks flowing through the savanna plains of the central region of the country, to more technical roads with some bush and river crossings around the Pilanesberg National Park.
The main bivouac will be based in Sun City, world renowned resort situated in the North West Province, two hours away from Johannesburg, surround by the Pilanesberg National Park.
Ross Branch and Bradley Cox, respectively FIM World Rally Raid Champion 2024 and winner of the Rally2 Word Cup 2024, will give their best in front of their crowd.
Toby Price, Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2023.
BP Ultimate Rally-Raid
After the success of the first edition, the BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal is back in the W2RC in 2025.The competition, on the Portuguese and Spanish tracks, promises unforgettable moments for cars and motorbikes.
Originally held in April, the event has been moved to late September to set up a Portugal-Morocco one-two combo. Organized by the ACP – Automóvel Club de Portugal, the event will take fourth place on the 2025 calendar and will be the only stage held in Europe.
The race will cover a course of more than 1000 kilometers of technical roads, mostly wide, and with varied types of terrain through the Alentejo, Ribatejo and Spanish Extremadura Provinces, where the competitors will stay for two stages. Diversity is on offer for the five days of this event.
Daniel Sanders at Rally Du Maroc 2024.
Rallye du Maroc
Part of the FIA-FIM World Rally-Raid Championship since its creation in 2022, Morocco, prime land of cross-country rally, will host once again the W2RC final from October 10 to 17 for the protagonists of the 2025 season. Morocco is a vast arena for rally raids, with dirt tracks, sand, stones, dunes that open up possibilities in every register. It is also a sprawling desert riddled with navigational challenges.
Luciano Benavides from Husqvarna Factory Racing team at Rally Dakar 2024.
ODC, Rallye du Maroc organizer, is committed to offer an event where conviviality is not an empty word. The bivouacs, perched in the heart of the desert, allow the competitors to meet in the evening to exchange, continue or repeat the race.
The best drivers and manufacturers, joined by plenty of amateurs, are used to be part of the event. The Rallye du Maroc is the last major get-together before the Dakar Rally which is positioned as the first round of the next W2RC season. The new sporting features of the Dakar are often tested beforehand during the Rallye du Maroc.
Toby Price, Dakar 2024
2025 FIA-FIM World Rally-Raid Championships Calendar
| 1/3-17 |
(Rnd 1) Dakar Rally |
| 2/21-27 |
(Rnd 2) Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge |
| 5/18-24 |
(Rnd 3) S. Africa Safari Rally |
| 9/22-28 |
(Rnd 3) BP Ultimate Rally-Raid |
| 10/10-17 |
(Rnd 4) Rallye du Maroc |
For more information, visit https://www.worldrallyraidchampionship.com/en
