Land Rover Prepares Defender For Dakar Rally

Land Rover is gearing up to participate in the gruelling Dakar Rally and World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC) with a purpose-built Defender. This rally version will be called the Defender Dakar D7X-R, and will compete in the ‘stock’ category in the rallies. 

The Defender Dakar D7X-R will compete in the 2026 Dakar Rally, acting as the brand’s works debut. A Works team is a brand-run team participating in a motorsports event. In the next year’s Dakar, Land Rover will enter three Defenders in the ‘stock’ category which is for entrants based on production cars. In 2026 W2RC, Land Rover will participate with two Defender Dakar D7X-Rs. 

The Dakar D7X-R will get a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine, the same as the Defender Octa. Land Rover hasn’t announced the performance specifications of the Dakar D7X-R, but expect it to make the same 626 bhp and 750 Nm as the Octa, since they're supposed to be based on production cars. 

Land Rover has shared some images of the Defender Dakar D7X-R but the car is covered in heavy camouflage. It looks like a jacked-up (raised) version of the Defender Octa and carries a similar design for the alloy wheels. Why it seems raised is because it will employ rally-specific suspension which increases the ground clearance and suspension travel, helping it handle better on the rally stages. 

Driving the Defender Dakar D7X-R will be 59-year-old rally veteran Stéphane Peterhansel, who has won the Dakar Rally 14 times. He will be joined by Rokas Baciuška who has been racing in Dakar since 2022. 

The Defender Dakar D7X-R has also undergone extensive testing ahead of the 2026 W2RC season. It was heavily tested in the Sahara desert to verify the reliability, durability and capability of the Defender for the Dakar rally.