Two months prior to the start, on Nov 20, 2015 Islamist militants took 170 people hostage in a hotel in Mali. This was a strong deterrent once again for participants to cancel their participation in the 2016 run. Organizers and the Malian government reinforced security. Because of the large number of cancellations, breakdowns and continued fears only 68 teams finished out of the 120 who entered the rally. The competition was won by the Hungarian, Gumis Ember team again. Amid the security concerns, the organizer of the rally announced the Budapest-Bamako will become a bi-annual event. During the intermediate years the team will produce a series of road rallies and adventure trips on the Bamako-Adventures umbrella. The first such rally, the Baja 4000 was announced prior to the start of the 2016 Budapest-Bamako.