It’s not easy vying for the top spot when you’re the new kid in town, debuting three teams in the newly revamped Dakar Rally Stock class in Saudi Arabia.
Defender, part of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), is very familiar with manufacturing capable off-roading vehicles. However, they’re new to the grueling Dakar Rally and the rest of the W2RC circuit (World Rally-Raid Championship). W2RC is a multi-round international off-road motorsport series sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and FIM. And Dakar Rally was the first in this year’s round of rallies. I was there during Stage and Stage 3 to see for myself how they were doing and what challenges they were going through.
(Full disclosure: JLR paid for transportation, lodging, and meals so I could document Dakar Rally and how the trio of Defender teams were doing.)
I’m no stranger to long-distance endurance competitions, like being the co-driver in four Alcan 5000 Rally 5,000 plus-mile events or testing vehicles in unconventional manners. My husband, and fellow TTAC contributor Andy Lilienthal, and I know a thing or two about time-speed-distance road (and off-road rallies). Each rally organization does it a bit differently. But the gist of the game is that teams are given a route book and need to stay on course and on time as best as they can against the rallymaster’s precise intentions. Competitors with the most accurate times and lowest scores win their class, or for the very best team, the overall competition.
Dakar Rally is similar to TSD rallies that each team (or solo if you’re running moto classes) gets a route book they must follow. The difference: Their directions are digitally displayed on a screen vs. us and paper, plus the fastest speed, while staying on route, gets Dakar Rally teams on the podium. Note: There is a Dakar Rally Classic competition that’s part of the overarching main Dakar Rally. They run more like the traditional TSD competitions we have done. Classic vehicles like Land Rovers, Porsches, Mitsubishis, and many other makes compete with timed accuracy and running a specific course. Unlike the main Dakar Rally, the fastest Dakar Classic Rally vehicle doesn’t win, they’ll accrue penalties for being too early.
Defender put three teams into this year’s Dakar Rally raid. They ran Defender Dakar D7X-Rs that were based on the stock OCTA. They competed in the revised Stock class. Additionally, two Toyota factory-backed teams driving Land Cruisers and a couple of privateer duos with Nissan Patrols rounded out the segment. Here is the Defender Rally Team lineup:
- #502 driver and 26-year-old Lithuanian Rokas Baciuška ( @rbaciuska), alongside his Spanish co-driver Oriol Vidal ( @OriolVidal64)
- #504 Americans driver Sara Price ( @sarapricemx), and co-driver Sean Berriman ( @SeanBerriman)
- #500 French duo driver Stéphane Peterhansel ( @s.peterhansel), with his co-driver Mika Metge ( @mikametge)
Within the first three stages, each of the Defender teams secured a 1st place Stock class stage win. On Stage 3, they even secured the top three finishes in their segment. Peterhansel, known as “Mr. Dakar” with 14 Dakar wins, along with his co-driver Metge (#500) came out on top. However, those hard-earned early wins didn’t come without issue. Defender Rally Team was ironing out an early power steering issue on #500, technical issues, and some tire punctures.
“Stage 2 was super stoney, very slow, not enjoyable at all,” #502 co-driver Vidal said exclusively to me. “It was quite close between canyons, so there was a lot of dust and it was tough. We tried to take it easy because we knew the area was tough, but we did a good stage, we managed the pace and we’re happy with how it went.”
“I just got back from Stage 3 and today was a much better stage,” co-driver Berriman stated only to TTAC. “We just struggled with punctures. Unfortunately, we ended up getting three flats throughout the whole day. So, by the time we had our third one, we really had to take it easy just to make sure we could get to the end. Other than that, the [Defender Dakar D7X-R] car ran great.”
For Vidal, Stage 3 was “the most beautiful stage so far.” Teams experienced sandy canyons and some rocky sections. Vidal told me it was “quite nice.” The team had more challenging navigation during Stage 3, but he thought they did a “really good job.” He and driver Baciuška recovered some time at end of the stage. “It was much more enjoyable today with a nice mix mixture of terrain,” Vidal mentioned to me, “so happy with how it was.”
After 13 grueling stages, Defender took the top two Stock class spots, plus 4th place in the category. They dominated their segment by capturing 10 stage wins out of 13 total legs.
Driver Rokas Baciuška and his co-driver Oriol Vidal (#502) earned the top spot, while Americans Sara Price (driver) and Sean Berriman (co-driver) piloted their #504 Defender Dakar D7X-R to a second-place finish. Legendary driver Stéphane Peterhansel and his co-driver Mika Merge, in #500 D7X-R, arrived in 4th.
Heaps of dedication, drive, and focus in a short amount of time helped to make Defender’s mark in history. They had just over a year to figure out their teams and exactly how to form their rally staff and massive traveling bivouac support center, and much more. They also worked with FIA to update Stock class regulations so modern-day OEMs could compete. As they figured out new regulations together, Defender began to determine how the stock OCTA would take shape as the new rally-raid Defender Dakar D7X-R got ready for the W2RC series. They also tested the vehicles to the best of their ability with each team whose drivers ran other classes but not yet Stock class.
Ed. note — we talked Dakar with Mercedes on our podcast. Click here or on the embed below to listen.
I took a behind-the-scenes Defender Rally Team bivouac tour and saw semis filled with stuff that would exceed any gearhead’s ultimate dream times twenty. One was filled with BFGoodrich race rubber. Others had endless arrays of toolboxes and consumables. Spare engines and differential parts were found in yet another while a trailer around the corner held each team’s scrutineered rally clothing, supplies, and more.
Although Defender is new to the scene of Dakar Rally and the W2RC series, they’ve signed up for three years of competition. Defender staff had specific roles, and their impressive services area had anything anyone could think of, even clean rooms with a vacuum system to suck out dust particulates when doing sensitive mechanical work. As one of the staff members said, Defender could “pretty much build another vehicle out of these parts if needed.”
I learned of key D7X-R upgrades while checking out a sneak-peek walkaround by Joe Ormesher, Program Lead Engineer for JLR. Stock class teams can’t change production attributes, like the engine, differential housings, or outside body. However, Stock class teams can enhance many other parts, as long as they comply with the revamped Stock class regulations. This makes them compliant and ready for rally raid competition. Here are some of those highlights:
Stock class teams can have updated differential internals but must keep stock housings. Defender widened each D7X-R’s track width and increased tire sizes to 35-inch BFGoodrich rubber. They incorporated auxiliary lighting and roof-mounted cabin air intakes as well as upgraded suspension systems. They’re co-designed with Bilstein and are single coil-over front and rear parallel twin dampers. However, being in the Stock class, they must be mounted to stock locations. Defender’s D7X-Rs also have the ability to increase ground clearance up to nearly 14.6” plus much more.
Interior enhancements include many items, like full race-spec roll cages and FIA-regulation race seats with six-point safety harnesses. Defender switched out the OCTA OEM fuel tank for a custom 145.3-gallon (550-liter) fuel tank to give each of the teams adequate range for competition. Each duo also rallies with three full-size spares nestled behind the roll cage and fuel tank. All three Defender Dakar D7X-R rally rigs have “Flight Mode,” a system that adjusts torque to the wheels when it’s in the air, making smoother landings. Each time also have a tailored storage system strapped to the roll cage carrying essential tools and critical spare parts should they ever need them.
Summing it up: Defender came and dominated. They proved a force to be reckoned with in the Stock class. Defender told me they’re noting critical things they learned from the 2026 Dakar Rally in order to bring enhanced versions of those items into future Defender production models anyone can buy from a dealership.
“Dakar Rally 2026 has been amazing,” #502 co-driver Vidal said. “We are very happy with how it went. It’s Defender’s first year and it’s been amazing to see how the car has performed across such different terrains: rocks, sand, gravel. Many many different surfaces, so we’re happy we didn’t have any big issues and that could allow us to have a safe pace. We’ve been leading since day one and we’ve been able to manage quite a lot during the whole race.”
No matter how you look at it, Defender came and conquered the 2026 Dakar Rally Stock class. As far as the rest of this year and future competitions? They’re yet to be seen.
[Images © 2026 Mercedes Lilienthal/TTAC.com]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
