Defender Dakar D7X‑R Is Done Testing in the Sahara Desert, Sets Its Sights on 2026 W2RC

The company's "purpose‑built, production‑based, competition challenger" is thus as close to the production Defender as possible. It shares the same D7x aluminum body architecture, transmission and driveline layout as the road-going version, paired with a 4.4‑litre twin‑turbo V8 engine to get it moving.

The SUV will have to sport a series of desert-racing oriented modifications, of course, because racing in the heat and sand is not the same as racing on the asphalt. All these changes, which have not been detailed yet, were recently put through their paces in the Sahara Desert, more precisely in Morocco, as part of a campaign that concluded this week.

With the announcement came the first images of the Dakar D7X‑R in prototype form, still wearing camouflage, but also the reveal of Defender's main drivers for the 2026 races. That would be Stéphane Peterhansel and Rokas Baciuška.

French Peterhansel is one of the competition's legends, arguably the most successful Dakar Rally driver of all time. He took part in the race no less than 35 times, in cars and on motorcycles with equal success, winning Dakar no less than 14 times.

Judging things this way, Lithuanian Rokas Baciuška is a noob. At 25 years old, he does show enough talent, though, for Defender to task him with driving one of the three vehicles it will enter in Dakar. Testimony of that are the driver's achievements so far, including his win of the European Rallycross Championship.

Defender says it will announce the third driver of the team later this year, when it will also pull the veils off the actual SUVs that will race in Dakar.

Next year's desert race is the one to watch, especially in the Stock category where the D7X‑R will compete. That's because the organizers will implement a series of changes meant to make it more suitable for present-day 4x4s and SUVs, changes the British carmaker hopes will help it rank high at the end of it all.

For the civilians wishing to drive themselves in a type of car that will be racing at Dakar, Defender presently offers four main models, namely the 90, 110, 130, and Octa. A fifth variant, the V8 Soft Top, was introduced at the end of April 2025.

Defender says the official competition SUVs are already on the assembly lines. We'll keep an eye out on the development of the Defender Dakar D7X‑R and report back when we know more.