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Sonora Rally Evolves for 2027 with a New Three-Day Format and Expanded Rally Schools Built for Everyone from First-Time Navigators to Dakar-Bound Racers
For 13 years, Sonora Rally has given competitors a place to discover what rally raid really demands. Navigation. Endurance. Independence. A roadbook, an odometer, a machine, and enough open desert to find out whether all four—and the person behind the wheel or handlebars—can work together. Now, in 2027, Sonora Rally is making that experience easier to reach without making the rally itself easy.
The 2027 Sonora Rally, February 11–14, introduces a streamlined three-day rally raid based from a single bivouac in the San Luis Río Colorado region of Sonora, Mexico. Competitors unpack once, establish one home base, and race from there—reducing the expense, time, and moving logistics traditionally associated with rally raid while preserving the navigation, terrain, competition, and adventure that have defined Sonora for more than a decade. It is, quite simply, fewer logistics and more rally.
Just south of the U.S.–Mexico border, San Luis Río Colorado also puts the event within easy reach of competitors traveling from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. International racers can connect through San Diego, Phoenix, Mexicali, or Mexico City, while Fly-N-Race Moto and UTV rental and support programs offer another option for competitors who would rather arrive ready to race than haul an entire program across the continent.
And before February ever arrives, Sonora is opening the desert for something else: learning how to race it.
FROM THE FIRST ROADBOOK TO DAKAR
The Sonora Rally Schools return December 4–6, 2026, with an expanded format designed around a simple reality: not everyone who comes to Sonora needs the same training.
For Baja racers, desert riders, UTV competitors, and newcomers curious about making the jump into rally raid, the Navigation School combines classroom instruction with practical dune navigation. It offers first-timers a foundation in roadbook racing while giving developing competitors the opportunity to sharpen their navigation before returning to race Sonora in February.
Learn navigation in December. Race Sonora in February.
For experienced rally racers and Dakar-bound competitors, the Advanced Route removes the classroom altogether. Challenging Dakar-style roadbooks put the emphasis on seat time, navigation, and training in the dunes—a chance to prepare for Dakar or sharpen the tools required for Sonora 2027.
This year also introduces an entirely new option: a one-day Dunes Clinic led by ZXMoto Joyride Factory rider, multi-year Dakar veteran and former Sonora Rally Road to Dakar winner Skyler Howes, alongside Sonora Rally organizer and Dakar veteran Darren Skilton.
Limited to only eight vehicles, the clinic offers a focused day of hands-on big-dune training ahead of the weekend schools. For competitors accustomed to speed but less accustomed to reading large dunes, momentum and terrain, it offers an opportunity to learn from two people whose experience was earned in precisely those environments.
The objective across all three programs is not to make rally raid simple. It is to make learning it more accessible.
THE ROAD STILL LEADS TO DAKAR
The rally may be shorter in 2027. The opportunity is not.
As North America’s only official Road to Dakar event, Sonora Rally continues to offer competitors a pathway toward the sport’s biggest stage.
In the UTV Road to Dakar, the winning eligible team will receive a paid entry into the 2028 Dakar Rally, a prize valued at more than $33,000 USD.*
For motorcycles, eligible competitors who finish the 2027 Sonora Rally will earn six Dakar eligibility points toward Dakar 2028.*
The new format therefore changes the commitment required to reach the starting line—not what waits on the other side of it.
From a first roadbook to a Dakar campaign, Sonora Rally is building a clearer path into rally raid. Come to learn. Come to train. Come to race. And for those with considerably bigger ideas, come find out where the roadbook can take you.
SAVE THE DATES
SONORA RALLY SCHOOLS
December 4–6, 2026
San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico
Dunes Clinic • Navigation School • Advanced Training
School Information + Registration
2027 SONORA RALLY — THREE-DAY RALLY RAID
February 11–14, 2027
San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico
Entries Open October 15, 2026
Special incentives available for the first 20 entries.
For updates, announcements, and the road to Sonora Rally 2027, follow Sonora Rally on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
*Road to Dakar prizes, eligibility points, and participation remain subject to applicable Dakar/ASO eligibility, application, and approval requirements.
