The 626-hp Defender Octa will serve as the foundation for a new Defender rally raid vehicle being developed by a JLR works team for the 2026 World Rally Raid Championship, whose premier event is the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
The Defender rally raid vehicle will compete in the Stock category, which is designated for production vehicles. New rules for 2026 will allow for increased performance, enabling competing vehicles to be more closely aligned with their road-going counterparts.
In the case of the Defender rally raid vehicle, JLR stated that it will retain the Defender Octa’s aluminum body structure, twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8, and transmission and drivetrain layout.
Two vehicles will be entered in each round of the World Rally Raid Championship, except for the Dakar round, where a third vehicle will be added to the roster.
Additional details, including the driver lineup, will be announced in due course.
JLR is currently transforming the Defender nameplate into a standalone brand focused on adventure vehicles, and the rally raid program is a key part of this transformation. Leading the program is JLR motorsports boss James Barclay, who also oversees Jaguar’s Formula E program.
The 2025 Dakar Rally concluded on Jan. 17, with victory going to the Toyota GR Hilux Evo driven by Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk in the Ultimate T1+ category. Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings, driving another GR Hilux Evo, led the race overall for nine stages but ultimately lost out to Al Rajhi and Gottschalk by just 3:57 after two weeks of racing across the Saudi Arabian landscape.