JLR will compete at the 2026 Dakar Rally as part of a wider multi-year partnership with the event.
The British company will compete with its Defender brand – now a brand in its own right following a restructuring announced in June that saw the former-Jaguar Land Rover business become simply JLR, and former-Land Rover products Defender, Discovery, and Range Rover become separate brands in their own right, alongside Jaguar. Aside from that, little is known about the project so far, with further details set to be announced during the 2025 Dakar Rally in January.
“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 Defender managing director Mark Cameron. “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.
“That Defender Dakar works program will be led by James Barclay, JLR Motorsport managing director, and I know James and his team are inspired by the challenge that lays ahead.”
The program will be the second factory-backed motorsport effort from JLR, with its Jaguar brand currently competing in Formula E. It secured both the teams’ and manufacturers’ titles last season, but narrowly missed out on a hat-trick after Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein beat Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy to the drivers’ crown at the f inal round in London in July.
“Anyone who loves motorsport will have a passion for Dakar,” said 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.