The Dakar Classic 2026 is not a race in the conventional sense.
It is a trial that does not reward speed, but attitude. Precision. For Maurice de Mauriac, this rally is a return to a feeling that runs deeper than motorsport. It is the sense of time as a companion, not an opponent. In the Dakar Classic, time is not chased — it is read. Stages are not won; they are passed. Every second matters because it tells whether human, machine, and moment were in harmony.
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The team’s Lada Niva is the perfect symbol of this spirit. Not a polished promise of high technology, but an honest character. Angular, robust, reliable. A vehicle that doesn’t ask whether the road is comfortable, but whether it is possible. In the same way, the Dakar Classic moves through landscapes larger than any ego and through days longer than any comfort zone.
For this team, we developed a watch that is more than an instrument. It is a silent witness. It does not merely measure time — it remembers it. It remembers hands trembling at dawn, not from fear, but from anticipation. Dust settling into every crevice — even between thought and feeling. Evenings spent sitting together in silence, because words would be too crude for what has been lived.
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Sladi is back behind the wheel at the Dakar Classic. His Lada Niva has been refined with everything learned from the last Dakar, and there it stood — first vehicle on the grid, still in the dark, restless, tires clawing at the ground.
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Of course, Sladi is wearing his Dakar on his wrist. Fully exposed to weather, vibration and impact, it becomes part of the instruments a Dakar team must be able to rely on — without compromise.
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This watch rises from the sands of the Dakar.
Built on the Chrono Modern — the classic by Daniel Dreifuss — the Oasis Rally Team watch carries our DNA within it: clear, honest, uncompromising. Its sand-coloured dial with fine texture feels as though the desert wind itself has shaped it. It captures the light of the Dakar and carries it forward — through the stages and into the everyday life of true rally enthusiasts. The tachymeter in the colours of blue flames evokes heat, energy, and passion.
The fluted bezel stands for resilience, reducing glare under extreme conditions; the heat-resistant textile strap is made for dust, heat, and constant movement. Sapphire crystal with double-sided anti-reflective coating, 100 metres of water resistance, and a robust stainless-steel case make this watch a companion that doesn’t ask questions — it simply goes with you.
Inside beats the ETA 7750. Visible through the sapphire case back, defying every movement. Here, mechanics become emotion. Time gains body and soul.
This watch is not a souvenir of the Dakar.
It is part of it.
Like in tennis, this is a rally not about a single winning shot, but about staying in the game. About rhythm. About the ability to absorb setbacks and return the next ball cleanly.
Maurice de Mauriac builds watches for people who do not want to own time, but to travel with it. The Dakar Classic 2026 is exactly that: travelling with time. And in the end, not arriving faster — but richer.
