Today’s the day, then: the 2025 Dakar rally will begin imminently with the prologue in Bisha. Over the next two weeks teams will battle it out over thousands of kilometres to claim glory in the toughest off-road race there is. For 2025, there will be a fleet of 20 Defenders acting as support cars on the Dakar, ahead of entering the event as a competitor car in ‘26. Today it’s been confirmed that that entry is part of a much wider competition commitment, with a factory team set to compete in every round of the FIA World Rally Raid Championship for three seasons from next year.
Two Defenders will compete in a new ‘Stock’ category for the 2026, ‘27 and ‘28 running of the W2RC. The works team will field two cars in each of the five rounds, with a third running just at Dakar; while next year’s calendar isn’t yet available, the 2025 season includes Dakar, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the South African Safari Rally, the Portugal Rally Raid and the Rallye du Maroc, so expect a similar line up when the Defenders take part. It’s the toughest rallies for the toughest cars, basically, though with the Stock class understandably featuring production-based models - rather than the more extreme stuff like the Ultimate T1+-spec Dacia Sandrider.
It’s the new regulations for 2026 that Land Rover believes will suit the Defender 110: the Stock class being ‘the perfect platform to demonstrate the extreme capability and durability of Defender.’ Given the plethora of Defenders seen just about everywhere right now, it might be argued that its abilities don’t require any further demonstration, but rally cars of all shapes and sizes are always cool. Nice to see a works motorsport outfit still making an effort as 2030 looms, too. There’s no word yet on any further entrants for the Stock championship of the W2RC, though we have the whole of 2025 for those announcements. Toyota has a rich history in rally raid, for example.
James Barclay, JLR Motorsport MD, said: “I’ve called Dakar the Everest of motorsport. Being here today to once again see the prologue stage kick-off reinforces the challenge we face. It will be an incredible adventure from both human and engineering perspectives, and the team are already working hard to develop Defender within the new ‘Stock’ FIA W2RC rules for 2026 that will make for such a competitive category. We along with the FIA, ASO and other manufacturers have helped shape these new regulations, which represent an exciting new chapter for the Dakar, W2RC and Rally Raid in general.” So more are to follow, it seems. As well as the role as support cars for 2025, modified Defenders will serve as recce vehicles for Dakar route planning over the next three years. Nothing if not committed to the cause, then. Expect to see more of the Stock-spec Defender over the next few months. 364 days to go…
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