Pretoria-based Defender Rally delivered a commanding and deeply competitive performance at the 2026 Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina, bringing all three crews and cars to the finish of one of rally-raid’s most punishing arenas while reinforcing the pace and durability of the Defender Dakar D7X-R.
Over five stages and 1,523 kilometres of timed competition, the crews navigated a brutal mix of high-altitude Andes passes, dry riverbeds, sand sections and broken mountain terrain. It was a route shaped by extremes, where mechanical reliability and crew endurance mattered just as much as outright speed.
At the sharp end of the order, Stéphane Peterhansel and Mika Metge claimed victory in the Stock class with a total time of 18:11:12, delivering a controlled and intelligent drive that ultimately secured the win by just over nine minutes. Their performance marked another strong result in a season defined by consistency and technical precision.
Teammates Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Vidal secured second place in 18:20:30, maintaining strong pace throughout the event and finishing the rally with a highlight stage win on the final day. Despite setbacks during the middle stages, including penalties and physical strain, they remained firmly competitive within the front-running group.
In third, Sara Price and Saydiie Gray completed the podium in 19:06:04, but their story carried added historical weight. The pair became the first all-female crew to compete in the Desafío Ruta 40 and to win a stage, marking a breakthrough moment in the rally’s modern era. It also represented Gray’s debut competitive outing with Defender Rally, immediately placing her into one of the sport’s toughest environments.
Across the team, all three Defender entries finished inside the top 20 of the Car category, occupying positions 18, 19 and 20 respectively, while also running competitively against the T1+ Ultimate class. That crossover performance highlighted the strength of the production-based platform in extreme conditions.
The Defender Dakar D7X-R is based on the production Defender OCTA and retains its core D7x body architecture, driveline layout and transmission. Modified for FIA rally-raid regulations, it features a widened track, upgraded suspension system and enhanced cooling to cope with the demands of long-distance desert and mountain racing, while still rolling off the same production line as road-going Defenders.
The final stage added a fitting conclusion to the rally, with Baciuška and Vidal taking the win over the 340-kilometre special in 02:53:05, followed by Peterhansel and Metge, and then Price and Gray. The internal spread between the three crews reflected both competition and cohesion within the team structure.
The event itself, widely regarded as one of the toughest on the World Rally-Raid Championship calendar, also echoed terrain previously used in the iconic Dakar Rally when it ran through Argentina, reinforcing the scale of the challenge Defender successfully completed.
Team Principal Ian James credited both crew performance and engineering execution, emphasising how the result demonstrated the ongoing development and capability of the D7X-R platform under sustained pressure.
Attention now turns to the next round of the championship, the Rallye du Maroc in Morocco from 28 September to 3 October 2026, where Defender Rally will aim to build further momentum in the Stock category and continue refining its competitive edge.
