Desert keeps expanding

• Entries for W2RC Season 5 reveal the growing appeal of rally-raid within motorsport. On the FIA side, 72 vehicles are registered: 35 Ultimate, 18 Challenger, 14 SSV, and 5 Stock, the new category. For the FIM, 9 RallyGP bikes are entered, and Rally2, Rally3, and Quad competitors continue to be automatically included in the championship upon registering for any round on the calendar (an average of 67 in 2025).
• Among FIA manufacturers, two new entrants bring the total to five. North America is represented by Can-Am alongside Ford, Europe by Defender in addition to Dacia, and Asia continues to rely on Toyota, four-time world champion.
• In the bike category, KTM, winner of the major 2025 titles, will defend its crowns. The Monster Energy Honda HRC and Hero MotoSports RallyGP teams remain fully committed, with their support for Rally2 prospects intensifying as they prepare the next generation.

ULTIMATE: ALWAYS MORE IN T1+

With 35 cars entered in the Ultimate category (24 in 2025, almost +65%), the 5^th season is clearly one of new records. A pleasure we should certainly not deny ourselves, but beyond the rising number of entries, what matters most is that there will be more racing than ever!

The first major development for 2026: 16 teams make up the Ultimate field. New structures and new vehicles are joining the championship. Alongside established setups like Mini X-raid or Century, W2RC 2026 welcomes, for example, the return of the Spanish brand Ebro Audax Motorsport with its driver Laia Sanz, and the arrival of The Gear Shop, from Canada, led by Nathan Hayashi and running a Score-compliant Ford Bronco. The call of the desert is attracting teams from increasingly diverse and distant horizons, no longer limited to the traditional players of the discipline.

The second characteristic of the upcoming season: all three committed manufacturers are strengthening their ranks with new offensive strategies.
With the arrival of world champion Lucas Moraes at The Dacia Sandriders in 2026, the team expands from three to four cars, alongside some of the biggest names in W2RC: Nasser Al Attiyah, triple world champion, and Sébastien Loeb, winner of the 2025 finale in Morocco. A trio of aces—only missing Carlos Sainz, signed with Ford Racing. The American brand is also raising its game… with a wildcard. It comes as a surprise to see Romain Dumas, the endurance legend and five-time Pikes Peak winner, join the four-man squad of 2025 as the fifth driver. Like Toyota, Ford is supplying Raptors to satellite teams to increase its presence on the ground. With Denis Krotov and Jourdan Serderidis (M-Sport Rally Raid) and long-standing Ford driver Martin Prokop (Orlen Jipocar), a total of eight Raptors will start from Yanbu on January 3.

While the rally-raid 4 stars is split for 2026 between Dacia and Ford, Toyota is taking a different approach, focusing on recruitment and development of new talent. At Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC, championship revelation Henk Lategan is confirmed, as is Seth Quintero. Two rising stars will take turns driving the all-new pickup introduced in 2026: Toby Price, double Dakar winner on a bike, and Akira Miura, four-time T2 champion (renamed Stock in 2026).
The four-time world champion manufacturer remains the dominant force, with no fewer than 13 Hilux entered—over 30% of the field. Among them, Toyota Gazoo Racing SA has built over recent months a stable of four full-season drivers. The Goczal trio returns under Energylandia Racing, while Overdrive Racing remains a major arm of the Toyota universe with two drivers, including Yazeed Al Rajhi, winner of Dakar 2025. Among all three manufacturers, the next gear has clearly been engaged!

STOCK: PETERHANSEL WITH DEFENDER AGAINST TOYOTA Season 5 marks the (re)birth of a rally-raid category. A new challenge dedicated to production-based off-road vehicles, offering broad public appeal. No ambassador could carry this project better than “Mr. Dakar” himself. Stéphane Peterhansel returns to the W2RC. Defender, an iconic 4x4 brand, makes its first-ever official rally-raid appearance. For Peter and his teammates Rokas Baciuska and Sara Price, the challenge is significant: to lead a new vehicle and a new team to victory against opponents with 30 years of expertise. Present in T2 on the Dakar since 1995, Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body, backed by the factory, takes up the challenge and enters the W2RC for the first time as well, with Akira Miura and Ronald Basso. CHALLENGER: TAURUS AT THE CENTER OF THE ARENA Taurus shares more than just a “T” with Toyota, it has, in only a few years, become the preferred vehicle for many of the key competitors in this category. More than half of the 18 Challenger entrants in 2026 will be driving a Taurus. A powerful fleet led by BBR, which fields seven vehicles across its two structures: BBR Motorsport and Odyssey Academy by BBR, making up more than 30% of the grid. The latter welcomes Kevin Benavides, who, like Toby Price in Ultimate with Toyota, moves from two to four wheels in 2026 after being a double Dakar winner on a bike. But the Taurus driver everyone will have to beat in 2026 is another Argentinian: the 2025 champion “Nico” Cavigliasso, who aims to complete the full season under his own team, Vertical Motorsport. The Nasser Camp QQMF team of Nasser Al Attiyah lines up two other T3 Max machines with Yasir Seaidan and Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, both major Middle Eastern talents. The G-Ecko machines built by Guillaume de Mévius will face fierce competition, including Charles Munster, a standout from the WRC2 last season who could be the revelation of 2026. Among the women, Dania Akeel (Odyssey Academy by BBR) returns to take on the men as she has done before, joined by Puck Klaassen (KTM X-Bow powered by G Rally Team) and Rebecca Busi, making her debut with X-raid.    SSV: CAN-AM, THE 5th ELEMENT Since the release of its Maverick R model, Can-Am has been shifting its sporting strategy toward the SSV category, where this highly competitive production vehicle is designed to shine. The shift accelerates sharply in 2026, as the North American brand enters the SSV manufacturers’ championship for the first time, becoming the fifth manufacturer in the W2RC alongside Toyota, Ford, Dacia, and Defender. No fewer than nine Can-Ams are entered out of fourteen SSVs, distributed across three teams: Can-Am Factory, Can-Am Factory Latam, and South Racing Can-Am. The Polaris machines of defending champion Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Racing) and the other two RZRs of Santag Racing will have serious competition to contend with!

FIA 2026 NEW FEATURES

1. Stock: The creation of the 4^th FIA category in the championship comes with dedicated titles for drivers, navigators, and manufacturers (Rally-Raid Championship for Stock Drivers / Navigators / Manufacturers). Defender is entered as a manufacturer.
2. Teams: Similar to what already exists in FIM for Rally2 teams, the Stock, Challenger, and SSV categories now include an award for the best team of the season (Rally-Raid Championship for Teams). In Challenger, 3 crews represent BBR Motorsport, and 3 others represent Odyssey Academy by BBR. In SSV, the 2 Santag Racing competitors and the defending champion from Old Friends Rally will compete under the Santag Racing banner. Three teams will fight for this new title.
3. Master: The best Silver driver over 50 years old will now be rewarded (Rally-Raid Championship for Master Drivers). Twelve “gentleman drivers” are registered.

FIM: "REDS" ON ORANGE ALERT

After an almost perfect 2025 season with four victories out of five rounds, “Chucky” is the number one everyone will try to take down in 2026.
KTM puts its collection of 2025 titles back on the line: RallyGP, Rally2, Manufacturers, and Teams.
The Rally2 title is the only vacant one, as Edgar Canet moves up to the first division to join Sanders and Luciano Benavides. Facing the three official Red Bull KTM Factory Racing riders, the four RallyGP riders of Monster Energy Honda HRC remain unchanged: Ricky Brabec, Skyler Howes, Adrien Van Beveren, and Tosha Schareina. No transfers to report at the end of 2025.
Also returning are the two Hero MotoSports RallyGP riders: Ross Branch and “Nacho” Cornejo.The movement is happening in Rally2.
Hero entered the category last season with Tobias Ebster, Canet’s runner-up. For 2026, Monster Energy Honda HRC launches its official Rally2 program.
Tested during the final two rounds of 2025, Martim Ventura and Preston Campbell joined the factory team on December 10.Honda is thus officially committing to Division 2 to boost the W2RC talent development pathway, which will be more competitive than ever.
To maximize its chances, the “Reds” is also entrusting a satellite squad with supporting additional young riders on the new Honda CRF 450 RX Rally, the customer-race version from HRC.
HT Rally Raid will support Ruy Barbosa, heir to the Chilean school of "Chaleco" Lopez, Pablo Quintanilla, and “Nacho” Cornejo.

Rally3 and Quad categories will again have their dedicated calendars. Both will start their seasons at the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. Enduro-based Rally3 bikes will finish their season at the Rallye du Maroc, while Quads will battle it out until the finale at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.