Matthias Walkner is opening the next chapter of his rally career: the 2018 Dakar winner is in the SSV line-up for the Rallye du Maroc 2026. He is entered for Morocco with Oriol Mena in a South Racing Can-Am Maverick R. His switch to four wheels, however, began back in March in Portugal.
As of 27 September 2026. Preview of the upcoming rally; entries may change before the start.
Morocco: Walkner and Mena with number 412
The official FIA entry list has Walkner and Mena down with number 412 for the South Racing Can-Am Team. The vehicle is listed as a BRP Can-Am Maverick R in the SSV category. For the Austrian, that means continuing in a side-by-side – a light off-road vehicle with two seats next to each other, a roll structure and four-wheel drive.
The Rallye du Maroc runs from 28 September to 3 October 2026. The route links Agadir with Zagora; the transfer inland is followed by stages around Zagora. That gives Walkner a chance to advance his transition under different conditions from those in Portugal: feel for the vehicle, navigation and teamwork in the cockpit all have to work in Moroccan terrain too.
From motocross world champion to Dakar winner
Walkner brings a career that goes far beyond a single Dakar win. The Salzburg native became MX3 motocross world champion in 2012 and won the Cross-Country Rallies World Championship in 2015 and 2021. At the Dakar he finished second in 2017 and 2019, and third in 2022.
His greatest Dakar moment remains 2018: with KTM he became the first Austrian to win the motorcycle category. Together with his other podium finishes, it shows how long Walkner was among the front-runners in rally raid.
A new start after a serious accident
A serious training accident in California in December 2023 and an injury to his left ankle changed his sporting outlook. A long recovery was followed by the end of his motorcycle racing career. The move to SSVs opens up a different route back into rally sport.
Under the name “Mission 224” – from two wheels to four – Walkner competed in the Rally-Raid Portugal in March 2026. There he was still in an older Can-Am Maverick X3, with Oliver Pyerin as co-driver. In an interview with the organiser he described technical difficulties and the learning process of fine-tuning the navigation calls. On the motorcycle he had navigated himself; in the car, that has to become precise teamwork.
What Morocco means for the road ahead
Walkner brings with him his experience of stage rhythm, terrain and physical strain. He still has to build up the set-up of a four-wheeled rally vehicle and the interplay with a co-driver. The Morocco list also names a different partner in Mena from the one he had in Portugal.
The Dakar 2027 is the stated goal of his comeback. An entry in Morocco, however, is not yet a confirmed Dakar participation. To assess his progress, it is therefore worth looking beyond individual stage times: how consistently does the duo get through the rally, how reliably does the vehicle run and how well does the navigation work? Morocco is the next practical test on this path.
Sources
- Rallye du Maroc: official FIA entry list 2026 (version 3)
- Rallye du Maroc: route and schedule 2026
- Rally-Raid Portugal: Matthias Walkner and “Mission 224”
- ORF Salzburg: Walkner’s return in the buggy
- KTM: Walkner’s sporting achievements
Image credits
- 2018 Dakar win: © PhotosDakar.com – KTM Media Library. Source: KTM press release on the 2018 Dakar win.
- SSV in Portugal 2026: Source: bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal / Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP), article “Matthias Walkner e a Mission 224”. No photographer is named on the source page.
- Title and social media banners: AI-generated symbolic illustrations. They do not show a documentary image of Walkner’s actual race vehicle.