(From the Range Rover Press Media Center) — Defender Rally has accelerated preparations for their debut entry to the 2026 Dakar Rally and FIA World Rally‑Raid Championship (W2RC) after completing a grueling test of the Defender Dakar D7X‑R in Morocco, Africa.
Attending this milestone test was the new Team Principal of Defender Rally, Ian James — also recently announced as Managing Director, JLR Motorsport. Ian will lead the Defender Rally team into Dakar and the W2RC, and joins from McLaren Electric Racing, where he was Managing Director and Team Principal.
Defender, the 4×4 built for capability and durability, will make its team debut at the 2026 Dakar Rally, where three Defender Dakar D7X‑Rs will compete in the new ‘Stock’ category for production‑based cars. A two‑car Defender entry will then contest the remaining four rounds of the 2026 W2RC.
Progressing from early prototypes, the competition‑spec Defender Dakar D7X‑R is now taking center stage. The Defender Dakar D7X‑R shares the same robust D7x aluminum body architecture, transmission and driveline layout as the production Defender OCTA vehicle and also its 4.4‑litre twin‑turbo V8 engine. The D7X‑R’s bodyshell was assembled on the production line at the Defender brand’s state‑of‑the‑art Nitra Manufacturing Centre in Slovakia, before a bespoke final build to ‘Stock’ rally‑raid specification was completed by the Defender Rally team in the UK.
This first competition spec D7X‑R was put through its paces most recently in Erfoud, Morocco, where the team carried out the most significant test to date in their preparation program. The aim of the Saharan desert test was to accumulate mileage on the D7X‑R, covering similar stage distances to those expected at the upcoming 2026 Dakar Rally, the hero event of the W2RC. The test began with shorter loops over smaller dunes, before building up to routes covering hundreds of kilometers spanning wadis and rugged plains, bumps and rocks and faster sand tracks — mirroring the terrain expected at Dakar.
Putting the D7X‑R to the test was the Defender team’s world‑class line‑up of drivers — Stéphane Peterhansel, Sara Price and Rokas Baciuška — simulating the challenges they’ll face on the Dakar. This included their co‑drivers utilizing the digital navigation ‘roadbooks’ which, on the Dakar, will have each day’s route available to view just minutes before a timed stage begins.
