The 2026 Africa Eco Race was the 17th edition of the rally raid in North Africa. Departing from Tangier on 25 January 2025 it travelled through Morocco, Mauritania, and finished in Senegal. This is the first event that started the race on the African continent rather than Europe.
Due to unfortunate weather conditions the event started with difficulties. The crossing from Marseille to Tangier was affected because of rough seas, the beach Prologue was cancelled due to rain, and Stage 1 had to be cancelled because of heavy snowfall resulting in a diversion liaison of nearly 1,000 km.
Stage 12 is a ceremonial special stage to celebrate reaching Lac Rose and, while timed, does not add any time to the general classification.
The bike category was won by a margin of only 41 seconds by rookie Kevin Gallas in only his third ever rally raid. Gerrit Zuurmond retained his title with a second consecutive win in the trucks.
This event welcomed two octogenarians. Noël Essers (82), a three-time podium finisher in the event, made a return in the trucks after a six year hiatus and Yoshimasa Sugawara (84) returned in a race category after being in the raid category the previous year.
172 total vehicles lined up at the start of the race event which include 105 motorcycles (1 quad), 20 cars, 20 SSV/T3/T4, 5 trucks, and 22 vehicles in the historic category (21 cars and 1 truck).
124 vehicles finished the event, including 70 motorcycles, 13 cars, 16 SSV/T3/T4, 4 trucks, and 21 historic vehicles.
There were also 13 bikes and 13 cars in the non-racing raid category.
The vehicle categories were adjusted and reduced compared to the 2025 event. The historic class remained the same.
Note <br/> â "Milwaukee Rookie Rider": Aged less than 35 years old on the day of the start of the rally, and have never taken part in a rally longer than 8 days. <br/> â "Original by Motul" â Competitors participating in the "Motul Xtreme Rider" Malle Moto, a marathon class with limited assistance.<br/> â Competitors that were not able to start the race.