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The Land Rover Defender Dakar D7X-R is a new off-road racing vehicle entering next year’s World Rally‑Raid Championship (W2RC) and the quickly approaching Dakar Rally in January. Based on a Defender OCTA, it’s going to run in W2RC’s new “Stock” class in the hands of Stéphane Peterhansel and others.
Land Rover indicated it wanted to challenge the Dakar (now held in Saudi Arabia) with a stock Defender-based vehicle around the last running of the race (almost a year ago now). Today’s unveiling of the D7X‑R proves the Green Oval guys hadn’t forgotten!
The Defender Dakar D7X‑R runs the standard Defender OCTA’s D7x body architecture, transmission, driveline, and 4.4‑liter twin‑turbo V8. But its wider track and increased ride height make it stand out from even the most extreme factory Rover.
The “Stock” Rally Raid class is new for 2026 and was probably pretty much created for Land Rover to make this car, but we’ll dive deeper into that in another post. The spirit of the class is that we’ll see production-based cars competing in the rally.
Bilstein is Land Rover’s official suspension partner and has created the system for this car, and has made a single coil‑over front setup with parallel twin dampers at the rear. The track width is almost 70 inches, about 2.3 inches wider than the OCTA.
The race Defender’s V8 will actually be detuned slightly versus the production OCTA, because the FIA Stock category regulations limit power based on a power-to-weight basis. Land Rover has clarified: “The D7X‑R’s final regulated power output, which will be less than the production OCTA’s 635 PS, will be defined in line with the publication of FIA Homologation documents on January 1, 2026.”
The transmission is stock but “has a lower final drive ratio to suit the conditions typically experienced in rally‑raid events and maximise torque at low speed.” The D7X-R has race-ready brakes (six-piston front, four-piston rear), 35-inch tires, and a colossal 550-liter (about 145 gallons) fuel tank.
A bespoke rally‑specification brake system has also been fitted to Defender Dakar D7X‑R, with vented discs, six‑piston front and four‑piston rear callipers.
I found this feature pretty interesting, too:
“The electronics in the D7X‑R are managed by a single motorsport control unit to maximise robustness in the challenging rally conditions, with bespoke in‑house race‑ready calibrations deployed. A new ‘Flight Mode’ has also been developed by the Defender Rally team to help cope with the many jumps experienced in the desert dunes. Flight Mode automatically adjusts torque delivery from the engine to the wheels whenever the D7X‑R is airborne to ensure a smooth landing and protect the driveline.”
Naturally, there will also be serious cooling provisions on board. “Cooling has been improved by increasing the frontal area and optimising airflow through the grille, where a single large radiator replaces the trio of radiators found in production vehicles. Airflow through the radiator is supported by four 12V fans, which support low‑speed cooling. Revisions to the bonnet further aid cooling, while a particle filter has been added to prevent sand from entering the air intakes,” Land Rover shared in its press release.
That release also states that the team will be comprised of “Stéphane Peterhansel and Mika Metge; Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Vidal; and Sara Price with Sean Berriman,” driving together. Ian James is the team principal. Peterhansel is, of course, one of the winningest Dakar drivers alive. Clearly, Land Rover is taking this campaign.
Here are the hype-up statements shared by the team’s drivers:
Peterhansel: “Experience doesn’t make Dakar easier, it just helps you understand how hard it really is. We have tested Defender Dakar D7X‑R extensively and it has been brutal – but it should be. We have to be ready for anything.”
Baciuška: “Dakar pushes the limits of humans, technology and engineering. No one knows the route for this year’s Dakar, let alone the outcome, but we’re determined to succeed and with Defender we have the right car to do it with.”
Price: “Dakar isn’t just a race against others, it’s a race against yourself and a true test of human endurance and teamwork. As a team we need to become one with Defender and take it one kilometre at a time and adapt to whatever challenges get thrown at us. We might be going into the unknown but we’re taking the toughest Defender ever and I can’t wait to get the race started.”
Land Rover posted an album of its D7X-R prototype playing around in Morocco without any livery on it. Swipe through some shots of it in action here:
I think this car looks absolutely spectacular, and the fact that Rover has made it fairly close to a factory OCTA is particularly epic. The Dakar Rally is just weeks and weeks of driving through deep sand and rocks at full tilt—it’ll be a serious test for this machine. I’d be even more excited if other automakers take notice and we start seeing some Stock-class Rally Raid rivalries!
The 2026 Dakar Rally starts on January 3 and will once again be contained within Saudi Arabia’s borders. I’m sure Land Rover will have some sizzle reels of its new race team in action before, during, and after the event.
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Automotive journalist since 2013, Andrew primarily coordinates features, sponsored content, and multi-departmental initiatives at The Drive.
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