Where and when will the Wialon Challenge Dakar 2026 take place?

Our team will race through the desert in Saudi Arabia in January 2026. More details about the starting point and full route will be available at a later date. The complete race route is expected to be announced in autumn 2025.

Will our team participate in the actual Dakar Rally?

No, we won’t be taking part in the main race. Instead, we’ll be on our own exciting journey, following the rally route, witnessing the race from up close, and crossing paths with motorsport stars during rest stops or between stages.

Who can participate in the Wialon Challenge Dakar 2026?

This activity is exclusive to Wialon partners. The team will include 12 members of the Wialon community — 9 spots are reserved for selected partners with Gold status, and 3 spots are available to all partners.

How many tickets do I need to guarantee a spot?

Since the winners will be chosen via a random draw at the end of the contest, there is no set number of tickets that guarantees a spot. But the more activities you complete and the more tickets you earn, the better your chances of being selected for the Wialon Challenge Dakar 2026. There’s no limit to how many tickets you can collect.

How is the final draw organized?

All tickets earned by participants will be entered into a random draw. The draw will take place during the Wialon community reunion in Dubai on October 12, 2025. On this day, the three lucky winners will be announced and awarded their spots in the Wialon Challenge Dakar 2026.

I want to participate and win a spot. What should I do?

That’s great! Before you start, make sure to read the Terms and Conditions of the contest. Then, create an account on challenge.wialon.com and complete your registration. After that, start participating in activities and collecting points. You’ll be able to submit and track your completed activities directly through your personal account on the website.

How will I know how many points I have?

You can track your progress on the leaderboard on challenge.wialon.com. It will be updated regularly, so you’ll always know where you stand. We will answer more questions and announce additional details soon.

Wialon Challenge Dakar 2026

12 selected Wialon partners.
5 intense days in the heart of Saudi Arabia’s desert.
1 extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Want to dive deeper?

Explore our blog articles for behind-the-scenes insights, technology details, and firsthand experiences from the challenge.

Wialon Challenge Dakar recap

Feel the adrenaline in our high-octane recap

Insider's take on the project

The story shared by the organizers themselves

How Wialon powered the Challenge

See how our fleet digitalization solution drove it all

The Challenge completed. Watch the full story.

From the first kilometers to the final awards ceremony — experience the challenge through the eyes of the participants.

It has become a tradition: every few years, we challenge not just the market, but ourselves in entirely new environments. We have climbed the snows of Kilimanjaro, conquered Indonesia’s second-highest volcano, Mount Rinjani, and organized a global run spanning 4,000 kilometers.

Each time, the idea was simple: bring the community together, step out of the comfort zone, and prove that together we can achieve more.

The idea behind the Wialon Challenge

Wialon Challenge Dakar: key facts

Time and location

January 2–8, 2026, Saudi Arabia (start and finish in Jeddah)

Desert crew

16 participants — 4 Wialon team members and 12 Wialon partners

Route and distance

1,900 km covered per team across 5 days of off-road driving — tracing the legendary Dakar Rally routes

Conditions

Real Dakar environment — extreme heat, dunes, no comfort, and constantly changing terrain

Concept

4 teams in 68 missions, from GPS-free navigation and desert survival to creative and telematics-driven challenges

Technology

Fully powered by Wialon: real-time tracking, geofences, scoring and mission control

68 missions.
Zero comfort.

Navigation challenges

Checkpoint routes, GPS-coordinate navigation, compass-based navigation without GPS, and Dakar-style roadbooks using terrain landmarks

Telematics-driven tasks

Live tracking, geofence checkpoints, speed monitoring, distance and fuel-based scoring, automated reports

Real-world fleet scenarios

Stolen vehicle recovery, vehicle tracking and interception, tracker installation and connection to Wialon, account troubleshooting

Endurance & survival missions

Multi-day off-road driving, fire-starting without matches, timed tire changes, desert cooking, and overnight stays in the ever-awake bivouac

Teamwork & creative challenges

GPS-art routes, photo/video missions, interviews with locals and rally crews, and scavenger hunts (finding hidden items or locations under time pressure)

A picnic in the desert — but make it a global buffet. 🌍🌵

From Lithuanian sprats on black bread to Mexican oranges with Tajín, our 14-nation crew turned the dunes into a feast while Dakar trucks flew past in the background. 🚚💨
But the fun stopped when we took away the lighters. 🛑 The new mission: Start a fire with flint and friction. It was pure exhaustion — until the Red Team cracked the code and taught everyone else.

🔗 Watch the full documentary via the link in our bio.

Desert rule #1: There are no addresses here. 🏜️🛰️

With a 9 AM start and only a few hours of sleep, our teams had to find a race car flying across the sand at 170 km/h. The catch? Zero cell service.

We used everything to survive: Wialon geofences, offline maps, and literally chasing massive walls of dust on the horizon. 🌪️👀

🔗 Watch the full documentary via our link in bio.

#wialon #dakar2026 #wialonchallenge

.pro-gallery-wix-wrapper {display: block !important;} .pro-gallery-wix-wrapper .gallery-item-container {opacity: 1 !important; display: block !important;}

Catch more highlights

@wialon_challenge

Wialon in action: Live tracking of participants

Let’s follow the team's cars from the starting line to the finish

Meet the Wialon Challenge Dakar winners!

Team Green takes first place — delivering the strongest performance across navigation, strategy, and teamwork. Team Red, Team Yellow, and Team Blue followed close behind, pushing through every stage and proving that every position was earned in the field.

Dakar leaderboard

Daily leaderboard from the heart of Dakar

1 place

Green

5365

2 place

Red

3555

3 place

Yellow

2990

4 place

Blue

2420

1 place

Green

2 place

Red

3 place

Yellow

4 place

Blue

The community contest is over:
Congratulations to the winners!

From April to September, we held a special community contest to select the final 3 members of the 12-person desert crew. Participants earned points by taking part in various community activities and received 1 ticket for the randomized winners draw for every 50 points collected.

Meet the contest winners:

1

Carla Greyling

Tracking Africa

2

Peter Chalhoub

MaliaTec

3

Edgar Zamora

Geologistic

More contest highlights

1,463

activities submitted

94

contestants competed for a spot on the Wialon Challenge Dakar team

2,104

the highest score earned by a single participant

Learn more from our dedicated blog post!

Desert squad composition:
The full list

Matt Cooper

Managing Director, Fleetware

Glenn Pearson

Director, GMT Connect

Suhail Sherif

Managing Director, Afritrack

Chakir Aouad

CEO, HTC SOLUTIONS MOROCCO

Serhii Stepanchenko

Owner, OVERSEER

Goran Borozan

CEO, Monitoring Net

Re'Al Awdah

CEO, IDNSolutions

Nicolas Moyano

CEO, TecnoGPS

Giorgi Chugoshvili

CFO, GeoGPS

Carla Greyling

Head of Sales, Tracking Africa

Peter Chalhoub

Regional Sales Manager, MaliaTec

Edgar Zamora

Sales Manager, Geologistic

Aliaksei Shchurko

CEO, Gurtam

Denis Strakh

VP of Product Development, Wialon

Paulius Sabaliauskas

VP of Customer Service, Wialon

Darya Chumak

Head of Partner Success, Wialon

Additionally, Anastasiya Eroho, VP of Marketing, and Aliaksandr Kuushynau, Head of Wialon, will travel together with the crew to handle on-site organizational matters.

Anastasiya
Eroho

VP of Marketing,
Wialon

Aliaksandr
Kuushynau

Head of Wialon,
Wialon

Org team

Re'Al
Awdah

CEO,
IDNSolutions,

Saudi Arabia

Giorgi
Chugoshvili

CFO,
GeoGPS,

Georgia

Serhiy
Stepanchenko

Owner,
OVERSEER,

Ukraine

Denis Strakh

VP of Product Development,
Wialon,

Belarus

Blue team — 4 place

Nicolas Moyano

CEO,
TecnoGPS,

Chile

Chakir Aouad

CEO,
HTC SOLUTIONS MOROCCO,

Morocco

Edgar Zamora

Sales Manager,
Geologistic,

Mexico

Darya Chumak

Head of Partner Success, Wialon,

Belarus

Yellow team — 3 place

Carla Greyling

Head of Sales,
Tracking Africa,

South Africa

Glenn Pearson

Director,
GMT Connect,

Ireland

Goran Borozan

CEO,
Monitoring Net,

Serbia

Aliaksei Shchurko

CEO,
Gurtam,

Belarus

Red team — 2 place

Matt Cooper

Managing Director, Fleetware,

Australia

Suhail Sherif

Managing Director, Afritrack,

Tanzania

Peter Chalhoub

Regional Sales Manager, MaliaTec,

Lebanon

Paulius Sabaliauskas

VP of Customer Service, Wialon,

Lithuania

Green team — 1 place

Meet the winners!
The boldest and most fearless

Meet the teams who competed in the Wialon Challenge Dakar

Wialon Challenge leaderboard:
Meet the front-runners!

These Wialon partners are setting the pace in the Challenge Dakar 2026 — see how many points they’ve earned and who’s leading the way. Join the race and climb the leaderboard yourself! 🏁

*For every 50 points you earn, you’ll get a ticket. At the final draw, we’ll randomly pick 3 winning tickets — and those partners will become part of the desert crew. The more tickets you collect, the higher your chances!

Get inspired: Dakar Rally 2025 in photos

Feel the thrill of Dakar 2025 through our photos — the Wialon team was there to explore whether this event could be the right fit for the Wialon Challenge.

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone — both the organizers and the participants. Thank you for accepting the challenge and making it all possible. None of this would have happened without your energy. Ultimately, every participant of Wialon Challenge Dakar 2026 is a true hero. It was not an easy journey, but every single one of you handled it perfectly. As you return to your countries, keep embracing the challenges and ideas that come your way. You’ve proven that you can handle anything — and even more. Keep that spirit alive and win at whatever life brings next.

Aliaksandr Kuushynau

Head of Wialon at Gurtam

Frequently asked questions

General

3 of the 12 spots are open to any Wialon partner who completes special activities and earns enough points. For every 50 points you earn, you’ll receive a ticket that can participate in the final draw of the spots. You can check out the full list of activities and their point values here. And if you're a Gold partner, you're welcome to join the contest too — it’s a great way to increase your chances.

Keep going with us

The Wialon Challenge Dakar 2026 is over — but the journey continues. Join the Wialon community, and be part of what comes next.

Join Wialon community

Wialon Challenge Dakar 2026

Want to dive deeper?

Explore our blog articles for behind-the-scenes insights, technology details, and firsthand experiences from the challenge.

Wialon Challenge Dakar recap

Insider's take on the project

How Wialon powered the Challenge

The Challenge completed. Watch the full story.

From the first kilometers to the final awards ceremony — experience the challenge through the eyes of the participants.

The idea behind the Wialon Challenge

Wialon Challenge Dakar: key facts

Time and location

Desert crew

Route and distance

Conditions

Concept

Technology

68 missions. Zero comfort.

Navigation challenges

Telematics-driven tasks

Real-world fleet scenarios

Endurance & survival missions

Teamwork & creative challenges

​

Catch more highlights

Wialon in action: Live tracking of participants

Let’s follow the team's cars from the starting line to the finish

Meet the Wialon Challenge Dakar winners!

Team Green takes first place — delivering the strongest performance across navigation, strategy, and teamwork. Team Red, Team Yellow, and Team Blue followed close behind, pushing through every stage and proving that every position was earned in the field.

Dakar leaderboard

Daily leaderboard from the heart of Dakar

1 place

2 place

3 place

4 place

1 place

2 place

3 place

4 place

The community contest is over: Congratulations to the winners!

Meet the contest winners:

Carla Greyling

Peter Chalhoub

Edgar Zamora

More contest highlights

1,463

94

2,104

Desert squad composition: The full list

Matt Cooper

Glenn Pearson

Suhail Sherif

Chakir Aouad

Serhii Stepanchenko

Goran Borozan

Re'Al Awdah

Nicolas Moyano

Giorgi Chugoshvili

Carla Greyling

Peter Chalhoub

Edgar Zamora

Aliaksei Shchurko

Denis Strakh

Paulius Sabaliauskas

Darya Chumak

Additionally, Anastasiya Eroho, VP of Marketing, and Aliaksandr Kuushynau, Head of Wialon, will travel together with the crew to handle on-site organizational matters.

Additionally, Anastasiya Eroho, VP of Marketing, and Aliaksandr Kuushynau, Head of Wialon, will travel together with the crew to handle on-site organizational matters.

Additionally, Anastasiya Eroho, VP of Marketing, and Aliaksandr Kuushynau, Head of Wialon, will travel together with the crew to handle on-site organizational matters.

Anastasiya Eroho

Aliaksandr Kuushynau

Org team

Re'Al Awdah

Giorgi Chugoshvili

Serhiy Stepanchenko

Denis Strakh

Blue team — 4 place

Nicolas Moyano

Chakir Aouad

Edgar Zamora

Darya Chumak

Yellow team — 3 place

68 missions.
Zero comfort.

The community contest is over:
Congratulations to the winners!

Desert squad composition:
The full list

Anastasiya
Eroho

Aliaksandr
Kuushynau

Re'Al
Awdah

Giorgi
Chugoshvili

Serhiy
Stepanchenko

Meet the winners!
The boldest and most fearless

Wialon Challenge leaderboard:
Meet the front-runners!