Defender Previews Its Entry for the 2026 Dakar Rally

Defender, which is now marketed as a standalone brand, has started preparing for the 2026 Dakar Rally. The company will compete in the event’s Stock category, which is open to production-based cars, and it has enlisted the help of one of the most successful Dakar drivers to increase the odds of a podium finish.

French driver and 14-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel will drive one of three D7X-Rs built for next year’s edition of the Dakar Rally. Rokas Baciuška, a 25-year-old pilot from Lithuania, will drive another entry, but there’s no word on who will be assigned to the third car. The co-pilots will be announced later, too.

All three SUVs will be pretty much identical. They’re related to the regular-production Defender 110 and powered by a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine that likely comes from BMW. Pictures released by Defender show meaty tires tucked under wheel arch flares that remind us of the ones fitted to the OCTA model, a front winch, and a snorkel-type air intake, among other modifications. We’re guessing that several interior updates, including front sport seats, a roll cage, and radio equipment, will also be on the list.

Defender will continue to test the D7X-R in the coming months, and the next edition of the Dakar Rally is scheduled to start on June 7, 2026. The team will enter three cars in the event, and it will send two cars to the remaining rounds of the 2026 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). While the British brand is fairly new to the automotive world as a standalone entity, the rally heritage is there: The first Paris-Dakar Rally was held in 1979 and won by a first-generation Range Rover driven by French pilot Alain Génestier.