Only hours remain until the start of the Eco Africa Race 2026 long-distance competition. The only Slovak crew starting in the Car category is already at the starting point, in Tangier, Morocco.
Martin Benko and Marek Sýkora, together with the Norwit Racing Team and the Taurus T3 Maxi buggy, will represent Slovakia in the Car category at this competition, which copies the route of the former Dakar Rally. After landing at the Tangier airport, they moved together with their mechanics to the first bivouac, i.e. the service parking lot, where they unpacked their equipment and the Taurus T3 Maxi buggy.
The administrative and technical check-in will take place tomorrow (January 24, 2026), which will also start the entire event. The Prologue on the coast, which was to determine the starting order for the first stage, was planned for Sunday (January 25, 2025). However, after the exceptionally difficult weather conditions that the city of Tangier has been experiencing for more than a week and the subsequent floods, the organizer canceled it, also for the safety of the competitors. Individuals on motorcycles, but also the competition crews in cars, will immediately face the first stage of the event heading from Tangier to Bousaid.
“We did not expect such a start, but we understand, the organizer is doing everything for the safety of us competitors. It doesn’t matter, the Prologue should only be a few kilometers anyway, so nothing happens. The decision will still be made in the normal stages and who will actually turn out will only be revealed at the Pink Lake in Senegal. We have a two-week adventure ahead of us, which will not be easy, but Marek and I are ready to handle everything that comes our way. Thanks go to our partners Norwit Racing Team for their support, we will try not to disappoint their trust,” said Martin Benko before the start of the competition.
Eco Africa Race 2026 starts on 24.1. – 7.2.2026, with the competitors competing in Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal over the course of two weeks. We will keep you informed regularly about how the only Slovak crew in the Car category will fare.