Defender to hitch Dakar Rally from 2026

The Defender model has introduced plans to enter the Dakar Rally in 2026 as a part of a three-year programme.

The British producer, a subsidiary of Land Rover, will discipline two examples of the favored Defender in all rounds of the World-Rally Raid Championship subsequent yr, with a further third automobile added to its line-up for Dakar.

Defender will compete within the Inventory class that’s reserved for manufacturing automobiles, though the sporting and technical laws can be up to date in 2026 to make the category extra aggressive and permit producers to point out what they’re able to in a rally-raid.

Explaining the choice to enter Dakar within the Inventory division, versus the Final class that options prototypes from the likes of Toyota, Dacia and Ford, JLR Motorsport’s managing director James Barclay instructed reporters together with Motorsport.com: “For us to come back with Final will not be genuine, the Defender is the unique off-road automobile.

“It was the primary four-wheel drive off-roader in historical past, so for us to come back into motorsport, it is not like we’ve got to.

“It is provided that we will do it the suitable approach, and the suitable approach is to exhibit the potential of our unimaginable Defender as a manufacturing automobile, if we include an area body automobile that appears like a Defender, it is not genuine in our opinion.

“We wished the problem to be about bringing our actual automobile to point out what it’s able to, and to help this imaginative and prescient.

“ASO and the FIA had to take a look at the laws and say, ‘OK, we have to enhance it’. The laws have been primarily based on a really previous idea of a manufacturing automobile, and what we have accomplished is figure with the FIA and ASO to deliver the laws consistent with the fact of what a contemporary manufacturing SUV is.

“The Defender is an aluminium structure, what we name the D7X platform for Defender, an aluminium monocoque building, 3 times stiffer than a standard conventional approach of creating an SUV.

“And the powertrains are additionally very attention-grabbing, and we’ll share extra info on that later. Once you have a look at off-road sport, we expect there’s a large alternative, in the event you evaluate GT3 and GT4 in circuit racing, in 2000 when the class was created, there was little or no GT racing, and in the event you have a look at it now, GT racing is prolific with GT3 and GT4, whereas in off-road racing, there’s a large alternative.”

Defender has but to announce the drivers for its three-car assault for the Dakar, however mentioned it’s on the lookout for skilled runners to guide the programme. A feminine driver may be recruited as a part of its line-up.

Defender is already the official automobile associate for Dakar this yr and has equipped 20 SUVs to ferry race officers and VIPs. An additional six modified Recee autos will be a part of the fleet to assist organise ASO plan the route for the 2026, ’27 and ’28 editions of the Dakar.

Defender mentioned it has already begun a complete growth programme with its new rally-raid contender and that it’ll run the automobile in a aggressive setting for the primary time in Autumn 2025.

This may precede the automobile’s maiden outing within the forty eighth version of Dakar in January 2026.