Sprache wechseln: 
Land Rover’s making a statement. Not just by entering Dakar as a full factory team in 2026, but by building a driver line-up with teeth. The latest addition? Sara Price — American motocross champ, off-road all-rounder, and a woman who knows how to win stages, not just survive them.
She’s fast. She’s fierce. And she’s the final piece in a Defender D7X‑R driver line-up that now includes Dakar king Stéphane Peterhansel and rising Lithuanian ace Rokas Baciuška.
Together, they’ll take on the ‘Stock’ category of the 2026 Dakar Rally, each behind the wheel of a production-based Defender D7X‑R — Land Rover’s new rally weapon. If anyone thought this was a branding exercise, they’re clearly not watching closely enough.
Sara Price: Racer from the Ground Up
Sara Price started racing motorcycles at age eight in Southern California. By sixteen, she’d stacked up 19 national titles and gone pro — eventually becoming an X Games medallist. Then she switched to four wheels and got even faster.
She’s not just a rider with a PR-friendly backstory. She’s won in everything from SCORE Baja Trophy Trucks to Extreme E, where she drove for Chip Ganassi Racing and became their first female race winner. In 2024, she entered Dakar for the first time — and made history as the first American woman (and only the third woman ever) to win a Dakar stage.
She didn’t just show up. She finished fourth overall in her class. Took the Best Rookie title. And earned the respect of the bivouac.
Now she joins Defender’s first works team campaign at Dakar — a landmark move for both brand and driver.
“To join Defender for its Dakar debut is a huge honour,” says Price. “The testing and prep going on behind the scenes is insanely impressive. I’m a racer through and through, and with Defender, we’re aiming high — we won’t rest until we succeed.”
No Tokens, No Tourists — Just Talent
Let’s be clear: Sara Price wasn’t signed to tick a diversity box. She’s there to win. Defender’s no longer just a nameplate on coffee mugs — it’s putting rubber to rally-raid, and Sara’s one of the few with the grit to match it.
As Mark Cameron, Defender’s Managing Director, puts it:
“Signing the brilliantly talented Sara Price is a huge moment. She joins a strong-minded, skilled line-up that will showcase what Defender can do — and what human endurance looks like — in Dakar’s toughest conditions.”
A Line-Up Built to Last (and Win)
With Peterhansel, Baciuška, and Price, Land Rover isn’t fielding rookies. They’re throwing down a serious challenge in the 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) — starting at Dakar and continuing across the season.
Each D7X‑R is built from the same aluminium monocoque as the road-going Defender, tuned for the ‘Stock’ class. That means no crazy one-off prototypes. Just smart engineering, tough components, and drivers who know how to suffer for speed.
Testing is already in full swing, across sand, rocks, and terrain most SUVs would never dream of. Defender wants to prove itself — and it’s doing it the hard way.
James Barclay, JLR Motorsport boss, sums it up:
“Sara’s trailblazing achievements and determination make her a perfect fit. She’s earned this opportunity, and we’re proud to have her racing for us.”
This Is Not a Drill
There’s nothing token or half-hearted about Defender’s Dakar debut. They’ve built the cars. Signed the drivers. And they’re already in the dirt, figuring out how to make a stock-spec 4×4 do the work of a race car.
Sara Price is part of that process now. Not as a passenger — but as a competitor with a track record of winning in tough, dirty places.
Three cars. One goal. No shortcuts.
