Land Rover announced that the Defender will begin competing in the Dakar Rally in 2026. The SUV will be used as a support vehicle for the 2025 race.

More details about the Defender factory entry are to come soon, but the 47th version of the pinnacle event in rally is set to kick off on January 3, 2025. Road & Track has reached out to Jaguar Land Rover North America for additional details about the Defender rally car and its Dakar partnership; we'll update this story if we gear back.

With the Dakar Rally just weeks away from kicking off the 47th edition of the famed event, held for the sixth time in Saudi Arabia, Land Rover announces its intentions to compete head-to-head with Ford in the top class for the 2026 event.

The 2024 Dakar Rally event was won by Audi in its third attempt with the RS Q e-tron. The car shared virtually nothing with Audi’s all-electric e-tron road car range and we expect Land Rover’s entry in 2026 will also be fairly unrecognisable from the Defender road car.

Moreover, Land Rover will be the official Dakar car partner from 2025, supplying a fleet of support vehicles for officials and VIP media

The legendary Defender brand is poised to make a significant impact in the world of motorsport by becoming the official car partner of the renowned Dakar

Choosing to take on the Dakar Rally is not for drivers or manufacturers who are faint of heart. Dakar is challenging for many reasons, not the least of which is its 4901 miles of loose, sandy surface that cars have to conquer — but the folks at Land Rover are up for the challenge.

The British firm will enter into the 2026 Dakar season with its most capable and toughest car in its line-up. Land Rover had revealed that it will be entering into the 2026 season of the famous Dakar rally with a Defender.

In 2024, 182 cars completed the Dakar Rally. Which sounds good... until you realise that's 182 cars from a total of 340 entrants. So yeah, it's a really big, really scary race. Land Rover then, must clearly hate its Defender,