Dakar Defender
The Dakar Rally doesn’t take place anywhere near Dakar, Senegal, and the starting point isn’t in Paris anymore. But the rally isn’t any less grueling, even if the terrain and route have changed.
In just over a month, Land Rover will field its own entry into the 2026 World Rally‑Raid Championship (W2RC), using the V8 Defender Octa as the base for the Defender Dakar D7X‑R. The SUV will compete in the stock category.
Of course, as in stock car racing, stock doesn’t actually mean stock, and the single biggest change is the massive 145-gallon fuel tank installed in the rear. Land Rover has also beefed up the suspension and tires, with the Defender Dakar D7X‑R now wearing 35-inch tires on a 2.36-inch wider track buying it some extra stability in the unforgiving terrain, while carrying the weight of the fuel and three spare wheels.
Land Rover also trimmed the door panels to accommodate the under‑floor protection, while giving the suspension a Bilstein performance damper system with single coil‑over front and parallel twin dampers out back. And despite the sea of sand seen in various highlight videos of cars cresting sand dunes, it’s not the sand jumps the teams have to worry about as much as the stages with rocky terrain that have already caused a few DNFs.
“We know Dakar represents one of the toughest challenges in motorsport – but that’s exactly why we are entering,” said Ian James, Team Principal of Defender Rally. “Following an intense testing program, the team are ready for the adventure ahead and the Defender Dakar D7X‑R has been built to take it on.”
The 626-hp twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 engine’s output has also been tweaked, though not in the direction one might expect. Due to FIA Stock regulations, the power is dialed down a bit via an air‑intake restrictor. And a single large radiator with four 12V fans has been installed in place of three smaller radiators to improve cooling, which will be in high demand in Saudi Arabia’s western half.
The eight-speed gearbox, meanwhile, is largely the same but features a lower final drive ratio to maximize torque at low speeds, given the fact that some terrain will require care rather than pure speed. A rally-spec brake system with six‑piston front and four‑piston rear calipers has also been added to the Octa.
Perhaps the most unusual feature of this Dakar-ready truck is what the automaker calls Flight Mode. During jumps over sand dunes, the system adjusts torque delivery automatically from the engine to the wheels when the SUV is airborne, serving to protect the driveline during landing.
The changes inside are perhaps what you’d expect in a rally-spec SUV, including an internal roll cage, six-buckle seats, as well as an FIA‑regulated navigation system. The driver also gets a heads‑up display showing speed and heading, but overall, the changes to the interior are on the mild side, with some stock surfaces still visible beneath a collection of screens for the driver and co-driver.
Speaking of the drivers, the Defender effort will benefit from the experience of some Dakar legends, including fourteen-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel who will be paired with Mika Metge.
A second Defender will be driven by Sara Price along with co-driver Sean Berriman, with a third team composed of Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Vidal.
Land Rover has a long tradition at Dakar to live up to, with Alain Génestier, Joseph Terblaut, and Jean Lemordant having scored a victory in a largely-stock Range Rover in the inaugural 1979 race, with René Metge and Bernard Giroux repeating the feat in 1981. Since those early victories, dozens of factory and privateer teams have fielded a variety of Land Rover models, with modifications to the vehicles becoming more complex as the race evolved during the 1980s.
The 2026 rally kicks off January 3.
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