The Real Way to Dakar cancelled, Intercontinental Rally shutting down

As its name suggests, The Real Way to Dakar is a race that hoped to loosely mirror the former route of the legendary Paris–Dakar Rally, running from Europe to the capital of Senegal. After fourteen years, however, the race and its organising body Intercontinental Rally have shut down.

Kasper van Deurs and Jacob Ilskov, the organisers of the race, both have family members battling illnesses that require them to take time away. Due to a lack of resources to keep the small Intercontinental Rally operating, they elected to close it altogether.

“It is with great sorrow that we are announcing that The Real Way to Dakar 2025 is cancelled and that we are closing down the organisation,” begins a letter from van Deurs and Ilskov on Wednesday. “Both of us are dealing with serious illness in our immediate family and our focus must now be on healing and supporting our families through this very challenging phase. The Real Way to Dakar has always been a small organisation and with both owners having to change our priorities, it simply is not possible to move forward with the rally.

“For us, The Real Way to Dakar has been a dream and a joint project for the past 10 years, first as a service team and later as the owners of the rally and it is not without great consideration and many talks that this decision has been made. We are very much aware, that this will cause great difficulties for everyone who has signed up for the 2025 edition of The Real Way to Dakar! However, the health and wellbeing of ourself and our family must come first!”

The Intercontinental Rally first took place in 2011 with a route that began in Almería, Spain, and ended in Dakar. It continued with this name until 2020, when “The Real Way to Dakar by Intercontinental Rally” was adopted.

Registration for the 2025 race began on 4 March. With its cancellation, everyone who had already signed up will be fully reimbursed. Had it taken place, it would have run from 20 January to 1 February, though a “soft start” in Paris was scheduled for 16 January.

“Our participants have always been the most important part of running The Real Way to Dakar and in making this decision, it has been essential to ensure that we communicated this decision as quickly and clearly as possible, so everyone has as chance to adapt any plans,” continues the statement. “This also means that participants are able to get a full refund!

“All participants will get a separate email with detailed instructions on how the refund will be executed.

“On a final note, we would like to thank all participants and service teams who have joined us on this amazing journey. Thank you for trusting us with your dreams and being a part of our rally family!

“Thank you to our local helpers: Adnane, Sidi and Moulaye who makes sure that we are looked after and have all the necessary support in both Marocco, Mauritania and Senegal.

“And finally, to the organisation behind The Real Way to Dakar: Not many people knows the level of work, attention to detail and passion it takes to make a rally like The Real Way to Dakar, but we deeply appreciate all of you for traveling with us on this crazy journey! Thank you!

“We appreciate your support and understanding.”

The race consisted of six classes, each split into smaller categories by engine size or fuel source. There were four bike divisions (M1 for bikes up to 450cc, M2 for 451cc to 690cc, M3 for 691cc to 950cc, and non-petrol), two quads (Q1 for up to 700cc and Q2 for 701cc and up), three for cars (C1 for up to 3000cc, C2 for 3001cc to 4200cc, and C3 for 40201cc and over), a buggy class, a veteran category for those over the age of sixty, and Classic vehicles older than thirty. There was also an non-competitive Adventure category.

Unlike other rallies that use roadbooks, the Intercontinental Rally relied on GPS navigation provided as a GPX file each night.

The rally sought to fill the void left by the Dakar Rally leaving its traditional route after 2008, which the Africa Eco Race has also done since 2009. The 2025 AER runs from 28 December to 12 January, heavily overlapping with the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.

Credit: Intercontinental Rally

2024 The Real Way to Dakar route

2024 The Real Way to Dakar results