Land Rover will bring its Defender to compete in the Dakar Rally, one of the world’s toughest off-road endurance events, in 2026.
The brand is set to become the 2025 Dakar Rally’s official car partner from 2025, for the 47th edition of the event from 3‑17 January, the first of four years that it will provide a fleet of Defenders as support vehicles. Land Rover will also supply a fleet of six specialized Defender recce cars for the Dakar organization, to test routes for future events.
In addition to that, Land Rover has confirmed its intention to enter a works team in the event, beginning in 2026. Defender’s commitment will “prove its extreme durability and capability in the world’s most demanding off‑road competition.”
“Adventure is in the very DNA of the Defender brand, so we are inspired to partner with Dakar – the ultimate motorsport adventure – where competitors truly embrace the impossible,” said Mark Cameron, Defender’s Managing Director. “Our partnership begins in 2025 when Defender will showcase its capability and durability as the official car of the event, but we are already looking to the future and entering a Defender Dakar works team from 2026.”
Despite being named after the capital city of Senegal in East Africa, the Dakar has been based in Saudi Arabia in recent years. Since 1979, the legendary event started out as the Paris-Dakar Rally – running from France to Africa – but security threats in Mauritania led to it being moved to South America from 2009-2019. Since 2020, it has been run solely inside Saudi Arabia.
“Anyone who loves motorsport will have a passion for Dakar,” said JLR’s motorsport managing director James Barclay. “It’s the Everest of motorsport and an event where success is dependent as much on human determination in the toughest of conditions as it is the ultimate test for vehicle and engineering capability.
“Bringing the world’s most capable and iconic 4×4 to the world’s most iconic rally‑raid is a perfect fit. Our first time ever with a factory entry into the Dakar means we are right at the beginning of our journey.
“We are conscious of how much we have to learn and achieve before taking the start in 2026, but we are already well underway and looking forward to the adventure.”
Details about the future rally-raid competition program will be announced during Dakar 2025.
