60 Riders Ride Into Knin Fortress as Dinaric Rally 2026 Opens

One by one, all 160 riders left the bivouac on Saturday evening and rode the roughly ten kilometres into Knin, ending at the gates of Knin Fortress. Seeing the entire field move through town and up towards the fortress was the moment Dinaric Rally 2026 stopped looking like registration, tents and paperwork and started looking like a rally.

The riders entered through Loredan’s Gate, the fortress’s 18th-century main entrance with its original doors and the winged lion of St. Mark carved in stone above the passage, built for very different traffic than the 160 rally bikes that filed through it Saturday evening.

Inside the fortress, the official opening began with speeches. Perica Matijević addressed the crowd, joined by representatives of the organisation, guests and riders. The Mali Gromovi riders also had their moment on stage after an afternoon that had the bivouac cheering long before the main field arrived.

Then it was the riders’ turn.

One by one, competitors came onto the stage for the official presentation and photo. With 160 riders in the field, it took a while.

By then, the fortress was full. Motorcycles filled the space below the old stone walls, engines echoed around the fortress and people stayed around until the last riders had been presented.

Dinaric Rally 2026 is now officially open.

Racing starts tomorrow. The Prologue begins at 12:00 and brings the first timed kilometres of the week.

Rallyberate Yourself.