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Motorcyclist riding through sand dunes in Tunisia

Fenix Rally 2026: First Day of Riding Without Published Results

Published by Thomas Menzel on 25. October 2026

Series: Fenix Rally – The doorway to Sahara

The sources consulted contain no results, times or positions for the first riding day of the Fenix Rally 2026. When accessed, the organiser’s news page showed only one post, from 2021. What can be documented is therefore the framework of the day and one participant’s account, not the sporting action.

Conflicting information on the prologue

According to the organiser’s website, the rally runs from 23 to 31 October 2026 (fenix-rally.com). The sources do not agree on the schedule. Euro4x4parts gives 23 October for administrative and technical checks and for the prologue in Djerba. RallyandRaces gives Friday, 23 October, for the checks and Saturday, 24 October, for the prologue. Offroadmag.fr gives 21 to 29 October as the event period.

The length of the prologue is also disputed. RallyandRaces gives 122 kilometres, while a participant in the editorial recording speaks of just under 30 kilometres. The total distance is given as more than 2,200 kilometres (Tunisie-Tribune) or as 2,846 competitive kilometres (RallyandRaces). It was not possible to establish which figures are correct using the sources checked.

According to Owaka Adventure, the organiser operates three bivouacs, in Djerba, Douz and Monastir. The prologue takes place in Djerba.

Motorcycle with race number 24 being serviced in a service tent, team equipment in the background
Archive photo from 2022 of the Sahara Rallye du Tunisie, not of the Fenix Rally 2026. Photo: photographer not named, source: Desert Soul Rally Team.

A participant before the start

In an editorial recording, Justin Gerlach from Berlin said he had arrived at the hotel at around 3pm the day before. Registration took him “quite a while” because he had to collect documents and stickers. He then got the motorcycle ready, applied the decals and fitted the tracking equipment. After dinner and the briefing, the talk turned to the prologue.

He gave the start time as 1.30pm local time, which is 2.30pm in Germany. According to the recording, he starts with number 11 as the second motorcycle, with only number 9 ahead of him. No start list containing these details was available in the sources consulted.

Gerlach described his strategy as follows (translated from German): “My strategy is to stay relaxed, which means riding very, very, but already slowly.” At the same time, he wants to secure a good position for the next day, “so that I can make up a bit of time tomorrow”. The motorcycle has not yet been fully run in. According to the manual, he may only rev the engine fully after about an hour, and he wants to use exactly that time before the start.

Motorcyclist riding in sand dunes, dust blowing up behind the rear wheel
Symbolic image from the Fenix Rally website’s pictures. It shows neither the 2026 prologue nor Justin Gerlach. Location and date are not documented. Photo: photographer not named, source: Fenix Rally.

What remains open

Times, positions, retirements, penalties and crashes from the first riding day are not documented in the sources checked. This article therefore cannot give an overall standing. It will be updated as soon as the organiser publishes results.

Sources and image credits

Text sources

Image credits

  • Motorcycle with race number 24 in a service tent (archive photo, 2022 according to file name, not officially documented). Photographer not named. Source: Desert Soul Rally Team
  • Motorcyclist in sand dunes (symbolic image, date and photographer not documented). Photographer not named. Source: Fenix Rally