Noa Sainct is expected to make his Dakar debut in 2027 on a KTM 450 Rally Replica from Team Nomad. The event has been reported to start on 9 January, with the 2027 running described as the 49th edition. For the 22-year-old, it is the next major step in a career that took him from enduro into rally-raid in 2025.

The family connection gives the entry added significance. Noa’s father, Richard Sainct, won the Dakar three times: with BMW in 1999 and 2000, then with KTM in 2003. He was killed on 29 September 2004, aged 34, after a crash during the fourth stage of a rally in Egypt. Noa was only 10 months old at the time.

The results behind the move

Noa and his brother Mateo created the Trophée Richard-Sainct in memory of their father. Noa has also built a clear rally-raid record of his own. He won the Rally3 category at the 2025 Rallye du Maroc and claimed overall victory at Baja Morocco, taking four stage wins from five.

In 2026, he finished sixth overall at the Carta Rallye and took part in, then completed, the Africa Eco Race. The Dakar therefore represents a substantial new step for Sainct, who is expected to face it on a KTM 450 Rally Replica with Team Nomad. His surname links the project to one of the event’s memorable champions, but the result will be the first major Dakar chapter of his own career.