- Land Rover has released images of its entry to the 2026 Dakar testing in the Sahara desert.
- Three Defender Dakar D7X‑Rs will run in the ‘Stock’ category for production‑based cars.
- The lead SUV will be driven by a Frenchman, 14-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel.
Land Rover likes to think its Defender is one of the world’s toughest, most capable road-legal off-road machines you can buy, but is it tough and capable enough to take on one of the world’s most grueling rallies and win? We’ll find out next January when Land Rover has a crack at the legendary Dakar Rally with the Defender Dakar D7X‑R.
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Unlike Audi and Toyota, who have won the last four Dakar titles between them outright, Land Rover is aiming for the less exotic ‘Stock’ category, which is overhauled this year to give entrants more freedom over spec. So if it wins, the D7X-R could generate less publicity than an overall win might, but it’ll be more valuable publicity because Land Rover will be able to link it directly to the cars you can buy in the showroom.
Related: BMW’s M2 Dakar Concept Is So Good It Hurts That It’s Just An April Fool’s Joke
Instead of the T1 category’s fancy spaceframe chassis, the Defender Dakar D7X‑R is based on the regular aluminium unibody Defender and has a conventional layout with the engine and transmission both mounted ahead of the driver. Land Rover hasn’t confirmed the complete technical spec but says power will come from a version of the BMW-sourced 4.4-liter V8 available in road-going Defenders.
The Dakar D7X‑R will jump straight in at the deep end, making its competition debut at the 2026 Dakar Rally – now held in Saudi Arabia – at the start of next year. Land Rover will field three examples in that race, two of which will go on to contest the remaining rounds of the 2026 FIA World Rally‑Raid Championship (W2RC).
This will be Land Rover’s first official attempt at the Dakar, and it isn’t leaving anything to chance. In addition to putting in plenty of gruelling test miles in the Sahara Desert in the camouflaged prototype seen here, it’s secured the services of a blue-chip Dakar veteran.
Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel, 59, is a 14-time Dakar winner who has competed in the event 35 times using both cars and motorcycles and last tasted victory while working for the Mini team in 2021. He’ll be joined by 25-year-old Rokas Baciuska, a W2RC champion who finished second in the T4 category of the 2023 Dakar and third in the T3 category in 2024.
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#JLR #Thinks #D7XR #Win #Dakar #14x #Champ
