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Motorcycles at the start of a sand race on the beach at Bibione

Bibione Sand Storm

Published by Thomas Menzel on 17. October 2026

The third Bibione Sand Storm takes place on the Italian Adriatic coast from 23 to 25 October 2026. Alongside the FIM Sand Races World Championship, the programme includes the National Race and a night race. The event is centred on the beach at Piazzale Zenith.

Bibione is the second round of the 2026/2027 Sand Races World Championship and its only Italian round. Racing takes place on a marked-out beach course. The championship is a separate series: it is not part of the W2RC rally raid world championship, and roadbook navigation and liaison stages are not part of the competition format here.

Archive photo of the start in Bibione, published with the entry announcement for 2026. Image source: Bibione Sand Storm. The photographer and date of the photo are not given there.

National Race in the same field, but without world championship points

For motorcycles and quads, the organiser offers two ways to enter: the World Championship Race and the National Race. National Race participants ride alongside the world championship starters. However, the National Race has its own prize-giving and awards no points towards the world championship.

The main programme is spread across Saturday and Sunday. Two 90-minute races are planned for motorcycles and two 60-minute races for quads. On Friday, the schedule includes technical scrutineering and the presentation of the riders.

Night Race on a shortened course

The Night Race follows on Saturday evening. A shortened course directly in front of the Sand Storm Village is used for it. The published programme lists the night race as a separate item alongside the long daytime races. Practice and qualifying begin at 6 pm; the first main race is scheduled for 7:55 pm.

For the race weekend, the organisers have announced Hakon Fredriksen, Cyril Genot, Todd Kellett and Kiara Fontanesi, among others. In the quad class, world champion Pablo Violet is named. These names come from the press presentation on 8 October, not from a final entry list.

Press presentation of the Bibione Sand Storm on 8 October 2026. Photo: 2M Photo / FXAction.

Daniel Wagenpfeil with Dakar goal for 2028

German sand world championship rider Daniel Wagenpfeil also has Bibione in his season plan. The OTZ points to this in its report of 5 October on his world championship opener in Morocco. There, the rider from Gera scored world championship points on a Yamaha but was slowed by technical problems. His start in Bibione should therefore be regarded as a reported plan; an official entry for the 2026 edition had not been verified as of the research cut-off.

Wagenpfeil’s longer-term goal is the 2028 Dakar Rally. The Thüringische Landeszeitung reported on 22 September on the project and the founding of Kaeser-Racing by his employer. A confirmed Dakar entry is not yet attached to this. Bibione remains a circuit sand race and is not a round of the rally raid world championship.

Other German starters for Bibione 2026 cannot yet be named with certainty on the basis of the publications checked so far. Research cut-off for this addition: 13 October 2026.

Key dates

  • Friday, 23 October: technical scrutineering, rider presentation and opening in the Village.
  • Saturday, 24 October: first quad race at 9:30 am, first motorcycle race from 2:30 pm to 4 pm; Night Race programme from 6 pm.
  • Sunday, 25 October: second quad race at 10:45 am, second motorcycle race from 1:30 pm to 3 pm; prize-giving at 4 pm.

The times correspond to the published programme on Bibione.com and are local time. Changes are possible. Admission is free. Livestreams of the Saturday and Sunday races have been announced on FIM-Moto TV and Federmoto TV, among others.

Sources and image credits

Published inAllgemein