The 2026 Taklimakan Rally concluded its most grueling stage on Tuesday, with competitors finishing the demanding 468-kilometer leg at the Ayding Lake in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The famous rally got underway on Saturday and is spanning a total distance of about 7,500 kilometers across China's largest region of Xinjiang, before concluding in Aksu on June 1. Organizers say this year includes 3,400 kilometers of special stages, the longest in the event's history.
Tuesday's stage, the longest and toughest of the rally, is considered a major turning point as it marks the true beginning of the event's elimination phase.
Setting off from the Mirage Scenic Area in Shanshan County and finishing in Toksun County, the route which skits along the Ayding Lake is almost entirely composed of desert gravel roads, narrow pathways and sharp stones that put intense pressure on both driver endurance and vehicle durability. A single miscalculation could lead to a blowout or force a competitor to withdraw.
Drivers navigated through the canyon of Tianshan Mountain, desert riverbeds, and jagged gravel roads. In such a condition, the extended high-speed driving demanded peak concentration from racers and exceptional mechanical reliability from their vehicles.
Adding to the difficulty, communication and GPS signal interference in certain areas forced drivers to rely heavily on their roadbooks and real-time judgment which would become decisive in determining race results.
"It went smoothly once I got going. For more than half the time, I was cruising at speeds over 100 [kilometers per hour]," said Fang Xiangliang, a driver with the Simpson Kayue Hardness Rally Team.
This year's rally also marked a milestone in China's motorsports industry. For the first time, domestically produced 103-octane high-performance racing fuel was officially deployed in competition. Before then, such high-octane fuel for professional racing used to be almost entirely reliant on imports.
"The fact that 103-octane racing gasoline has been domestically produced shows that China now has the independent research and development capability and industrial capacity to produce high-performance racing fuel. This also provides a more stable and reliable domestic option for fuel used in top-tier national racing events," said Su Wenjie, a staff member at Sinopec Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Company.
First held in 2005, the Taklimakan Rally has grown into a flagship long-distance off-road event in China and was officially included in the International Automobile Federation (FIA) calendar in 2024.
Drivers complete grueling longest stage of 2026Taklimakan Rally in Xinjiang
