As we move into January, the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) kicks off, which is a very exciting time of the year for not only rally fans, but also Land Rover enthusiasts who will no doubt be interested to see how the Land Rover team fares in this year’s event. 

The first race on the calendar kicks off on 3 January 2026 in Saudi Arabia with the infamous Dakar Rally. Running for two weeks until 17 January, it promises plenty of excitement and action as the teams navigate the unforgiving desert environment. 

Ahead of the competition, Land Rover announced that its Defender Dakar D7X-R is the model it has chosen to head into the race.

It has a production Defender OCTA as its base and is equipped with a powerful 4.4 litre twin-turbo V8 engine to help it navigate both the course and the challenging climate.

The Land Rover V8 engine will also run on an advanced sustainable fuel that is fully compliant with the FIA regulations. 

In what will no doubt be interesting to Land Rover drivers, the V8 engine is also production grade as, under the rules of the W2RC, this is another element of the vehicle that cannot be modified. 

Land Rover is entering three teams of drivers into the W2RC this year, each of which will be supported on the stages by a team of experienced mechanics and engineers. 

In addition to the first leg in Saudi Arabia, the same vehicles will head to Portugal for the second leg before then travelling to South America’s Argentina in May for the third stage. From there, the teams will come back to Africa for the fourth race in Morocco.

The 2026 W2RC will close out in Abu Dhabi with the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in November. All of the legs following Dakar are much shorter routes, making them less grueling for both the teams and the vehicles, although no less exciting!