Land Rover Defender to participate in Dakar Rally as a support vehicle

- Two Defender 110 will cater to the BRX team and its crew members

- Both the Defenders will be production-spec models equipped with Explorer Pack

The legendary Defender in its latest avatar will participate in the 2021 Dakar Rally. Sadly, its involvement will only be limited as a support vehicle for the crew members of the team - Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX).

Land Rover will be sending two production-spec Defender 110 in the rally which will battle all types of terrains in the 7,646 km rally which is scheduled to kick off from 3 January. The Defender will be fitted with the Explorer Pack and will transit through some extreme conditions like traversing desert dunes, mud, camel grass and rocks while carrying the crew and their equipments. Accessories such as expedition roof rack, raised air intake, wheel arch protection, deployable roof ladder, and exterior side-mounted gear carrier will add to the overall capability of the vehicle.

The Defender will be powered by the 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol engine featuring the brand’s mild hybrid electric vehicle technology. Dakar rally is one of the toughest and most challenging sporting events in the world and was inaugurated way back in the year 1979. This year the competition will begin from the coast of the Red Sea in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia through Riyadh and ending back in Jeddah. 

Finbar McFall, Jaguar Land Rover Customer Experience Director, said: “Land Rover has a unique Dakar pedigree having won the inaugural event in 1979, and the rally remains the ultimate all-terrain endurance test. While the Defenders won’t be competing, they will have a vital role in supporting the team as they navigate their way across thousands of miles of punishing desert terrain. The fact these vehicles are unmodified is testimony to the intrinsic capability and durability of our legendary 4x4, which has undergone the most demanding engineering test and development programme in our history.”