Cross-country rally racing, more commonly known as rally raid, is an extended form of rally racing, conducted on an off-road course that spans across one or more countries. A single race may last for three to fifteen days, where drivers travel about 900 kms every day. Winners are decided based on the driver that has the lowest accumulated time for the entire course.

Dakar RallyDakar Rally

Each cross-country rally competition has races for multiple vehicle classes. Each vehicle class is split into multiple groups. Three types of vehicles classes used for racing and their groups are:

  • Motor class: The three divisions in this class are, Group1 Marathon, Group2 Super Production, and Group3 Quad.
  • Car class: The divisions for car class are, T1 - Improved cross-country vehicles, T2 - Cross-country production vehicles, and an Open group.
  • Truck class: The two divisions in this class are T4 and T5.

The most popular rally raid competition is the Dakar Rally which is conducted annually. The other major competition is the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup which consist of a series of rally raid races to decide a championship winner. Most cross-country races have only a few professionals, amateurs make up the rest of the field.