Pretoria, South Africa – Tuesday, 15 September 2026: Defender Rally will make its African debut in the fourth round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, Rallye OLA Energy du Maroc in Morocco, from 26 September to 3 October 2026. Defender Rally will field three crews in the Stock class driving Defender D7X-Rs, including the 2026 Dakar Rally winners Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Vidal, who are currently leading the standings with 199 points. Stéphane Peterhansel and Mika Metge will join them, who now sit second on 170 points. Sara Price, who has 164 points to her name, will return to racing with co-driver Sean Berriman (127 points). Held in southern Morocco, the 2026 Rallye du Maroc route spans 2,838km, including 1,656km of timed stages. Starting in Agadir and heading to Zagora, the rally features a challenging mix of rocky mountain tracks, fast sand pistes and vast Saharan dunes, including demanding sections through the Atlas foothills and Draa valley. Ian James, Team Principal for Defender Rally, said: “We head into this next round with some strong results behind us and a clear understanding of what we need to deliver next. Every kilometre of racing is a valuable lesson for the Defender Rally team, especially in our debut season, and our focus remains on getting the best performance from the D7X-R and our crews. We know Rallye du Maroc will be a tough challenge, but we have insights from the successful three rounds we’ve completed, and confidence in our entire team. Let’s see what Morocco has in store.” Rokas Baciuška, Defender Rally driver, said: “Rallye du Maroc is always a challenge, but I’m really looking forward to competing in this race again, but this time in the Stock class. We know the stages will be tough, with long days in the car and some tricky terrain, but we’ll work hard to stay focused throughout. We’ve got a great team and a robust race car in the D7X-R, so the goal is to avoid mistakes, stay consistent, be fast and bring the car to the finish line.” Based on the production Defender OCTA, Defender Rally competes with the Defender D7X-R. With modifications to meet FIA Stock class regulations, the competition car retains the OCTA’s transmission, D7x body architecture and driveline. The bodyshell is also built on the same production line in Nitra as road-going Defenders. Engineered to withstand the extreme conditions of W2RC routes, the D7X-R features bespoke suspension, a wider track and enhanced cooling systems, so it can tackle the demands of rally-raid competition. It has already proven its capability and speed, having won the Stock class at Dakar Rally, and achieving overall finish times amongst the Ultimate class in bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal and Desafío Ruta 40. Supporting the team’s efforts in Morocco are Official Partners Castrol, YETI, Bilstein and Bell & Ross, along with official suppliers Shackleton and Alpinestars.
|
