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Fenix Rally 2026: Knuiman leads the Enduro class after the prologue

Published by Thomas Menzel on 25. October 2026

Series: Fenix Rally – The doorway to Sahara

The prologue of the Fenix Rally 2026 took place on Saturday, 24 October 2026. The timesheet available is marked as partial and unofficial. In the Enduro class it is headed by the Dutchman Knuiman on a 450 cc machine, who took 22 minutes and 31.25 seconds for the prologue course. According to the schedule published by RallyandRaces, the prologue is 122 kilometres long.

Motorcyclist with start number 16 riding up a dune, desert in the background
Archive image from the Fenix Rally 2025: a rider with start number 16 on a KTM on a dune. Photo: RBI Media, photographer according to the file name B. Barbolov (not independently verified). Source: franceroadbook.com. Archive photo, not an image from the 2026 prologue.

Day 1 and schedule

According to the schedule that RallyandRaces published on 20 October, Friday, 23 October, was set aside for administrative and technical checks. The plan put the prologue on Saturday, 24 October. No reports on scrutineering or the briefing on 23 October are available for this edition. The organiser’s news page also contains no report on these days.

The organiser, RBI Sport, gives the dates of the rally as 23 to 31 October 2026. The event page in the road2rally.de rally calendar lists Douz as the location. Owaka, by contrast, describes the rally’s story as beginning with the prologue in Djerba. According to RallyandRaces, Djerba is the first bivouac. The Tunisie-Tribune writes that this year’s Fenix Rally is the sixth edition. The organiser is RBI Sport, in coordination with the Tunisian Automobile Federation (FTA).

The figures for the total distance contradict each other. RallyandRaces gives 2,846 kilometres of timed stages over eight days. The Tunisie-Tribune speaks of more than 2,200 kilometres over seven competition days, Owaka of 2,000 kilometres. The prologue length of 122 kilometres comes from the RallyandRaces schedule and has not been checked against an organiser page.

Enduro class: Knuiman ahead, Gerlach in 5th

The timesheet shows the following positions in the ENDURO_CC class. Times are given in the format hours:minutes:seconds,hundredths. The gap is given in the format min:sec. Where a name is not legible in the extract, this is stated explicitly.

  • Place 1: Knuiman (Netherlands), 450 cc. Time 00:22:31,25.
  • Place 2: start number 14, GASGAS 500, name not legible. Time 00:24:00,13. Gap (min:sec): +1:29.
  • Place 3: rider on a BETA 390, name not legible. Time 00:25:05,99. Gap (min:sec): +2:34.
  • Place 4: Richard Wiintjes (Netherlands), Husqvarna FE 501. Time 00:25:13,97. Gap (min:sec): +2:42. 40-second time penalty for OVERSPEED.
  • Place 5: Justin Gerlach (Germany), 450 cc, Team JG Racing. Time 00:25:38,88. Gap (min:sec): +3:07.
  • Place 6: name not legible. Time 00:27:21,31. Gap (min:sec): +4:50.
  • Place 7: Gaspard Rosé, KTM 500 Aravis. Time 00:27:52,98. Gap (min:sec): +5:21.
  • Place 8: Pascal de Baar (Netherlands), KTM EXC. Time 00:27:57,89. Gap (min:sec): +5:26.
  • Place 9: Sara Jugla (France), KOVE 450. Time 00:28:33,47. Gap (min:sec): +6:02.
  • Place 10: Taher Fourati (Tunisia), KTM EXC-F. Time 00:29:29,71. Gap (min:sec): +6:58.
  • Place 11: Florian Willer (Germany), 450 cc. Time 00:32:17,66. Gap (min:sec): +9:46.
  • Place 12: start number 28, KTM EXC-F, name not legible. Time 00:46:31,51. Gap (min:sec): +24:00. 16-minute time penalty for OVERSPEED.
  • Place 13: Ghilane Boussif (Tunisia), KTM EXC-F. Time 01:11:00,41. Gap (min:sec): +48:29. 42-minute time penalty for OVERSPEED.
  • Place 14: name not legible. Time 01:11:06,28. Gap (min:sec): +48:35. 40-minute time penalty for OVERSPEED.
  • Place 15: Bouchneb (Algeria), KTM. Time 01:17:07,40. Gap (min:sec): +54:36. 45-minute time penalty for OVERSPEED.
  • Place 16: Firas Guidara (Tunisia), KTM. Time 01:22:08,11. Gap (min:sec): +59:37. 49-minute time penalty for OVERSPEED.

OVERSPEED in the extract stands for a speeding offence. The “Total” column corresponds in every row to the pure prologue time; the penalties are listed separately. The extract does not show whether they are included in the placings. The positions should therefore be read as provisional.

Motorcyclist on a dune in the desert, a plume of dust behind the rear wheel
Archive image from the Fenix Rally website: a motorcyclist crossing a dune. Photographer not named. Date not given. Source: fenix-rally.com. Archive photo, not from the 2026 prologue.

Other motorcycle classes

In the M2005 class, Edouard Gager (France, KTM) leads with 00:39:13,28. He received a time penalty of 8 minutes and 30 seconds for OVERSPEED. Gaspard Albanel took 00:45:36,59 and, according to the extract, is +6:23 behind, plus a 16-minute penalty. Ludovic Gager (France, KTM) is in 3rd place with 00:48:13,52, gap +9:00. The M85 class is led by Pieter Boudrez (Belgium, Yamaha) with 00:30:53,32.

German-speaking and Belgian starters

From Germany, the extract lists Justin Gerlach in 5th place and Florian Willer in 11th place in the Enduro class. According to the extract, Willer was 9 minutes and 46 seconds behind Knuiman. Gerlach rides for Team JG Racing. An Austrian team, Ewald Holler and Markus Bodzenta, is in 2nd place in the Car Limited class with 00:30:57,36 and a gap of 3:55.

The Belgian Feryn Dakar Sport teams are in 2nd place in the Car Open class (Pascal Feryn and Kurt Keysers, time 00:20:57,21, gap 0:37, 10-second time penalty for OVERSPEED) and in 3rd place (Koen Wauters and Tom De Leeuw, time 00:21:12,20, gap 0:52). The assignment of names to places 2 and 3 is only partly legible in the extract. It relies on RallyandRaces’ information about the team.

Before the start, Koen Wauters wrote, according to RallyandRaces, that the prologue consists of 122 kilometres and is “best pittig”, meaning fairly demanding, for an opening stage. In the original: “De proloog alleen al behelst 122 km wat best pittig is voor een openingsrit.” Translated. He expected a prologue that would serve as a test, since there had been no time left for testing. According to RallyandRaces, Pascal Feryn wanted to do better than the previous year. Back then he retired after the second stage with a technical problem. In the original he said: “Uitrijden is de boodschap.” Translated: finishing is the goal. According to RallyandRaces, Wauters finished fourth in the cars in 2025.

Outlook for the event

The schedule lists the first stage, of 472 kilometres, for Sunday, 25 October. This figure comes from the RallyandRaces plan of 20 October. The organiser has not confirmed for this edition that the route runs this way.

Sources and photo credits

Text sources

Photos

  • Lead image, archive (Fenix Rally 2025): motorcyclist on a dune. Photographer: RBI Media, according to the file name B. Barbolov, not independently verified. Source: franceroadbook.com. Archive photo.
  • Archive image Fenix Rally: motorcyclist in dunes. Photographer not named. Date not given. Source: fenix-rally.com. Archive photo.