The Defender’s debut appearance at the Dakar Rally is off to a great start.
The Dakar Rally is currently taking place in Saudi Arabia and Defender, the esteemed and historic name in the off-road world, is taking part in the event for the first time with three Defender D7X-R rally vehicles, all closely related to Defender’s current luxury and performance flagship, the Defender OCTA. Drivers Sara Price, Stéphane Peterhansel and Rokas Baciuška are all taking part in the rally and will have to cover a total of over 3,000 miles in two weeks.
So far the group is off to a wonderful start, the second stage is over and the team achieved 1-2-3 placings in the Stock category in both the prologue and the second stage. The results put the Defender team at the top of the Stock category leaderboard. While the prologue only lasted less than 14 miles, the strong result helped the team hit the ground running, and on the second stage the same rider, Sara Price, took first place, closely followed by the other two teams.
Stage 2 covered around 250 miles and presented the drivers with huge challenges, including rocks, sand, poor visibility and a demanding route for the vehicles’ tyres. However, the team managed to get through the second stage with a 1-2-3 result in the stock category and went into the third stage on Tuesday with wind in their sails. The third stage of the Dakar Rally includes a time stage of over 250 miles and a road connection of over 150 miles.
