With Renault Group hoping to tap into the Brazilian market, the Dacia Sandriders are reportedly interested in signing Lucas Moraes for the 2026 W2RC season.

Moraes currently races for Toyota Gazoo Racing, who has employed him since mid-2023 though he had already been in a Hilux for longer. He sits third in the standings after finishing 13th in the Dakar Rally and second points leader Nasser Al-Attiyah at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Should he make the move to Dacia, Moraes would once again have Al-Attiyah as a teammate like he did at TGR in 2023. Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez are also on the Sandriders, the former racing the full season while the latter is doing a part-time slate as a development driver.

According to a report from Motorsport.com, Brazil is seen as a valuable market for Dacia. While it does not host a W2RC round, the country’s national rally raid championship is open of the most competitive in South America; Moraes is a three-time champion of the Rally dos Sertões, including winning the latest edition.

The report notes that besides Moraes, Marcos Baumgart and Marcelo Gastaldi are Brazilian candidates for Dacia too. Baumgart is no stranger to Prodrive, who oversees the Dacia program, while Gastaldi usually races a Century and finished 14th in Ultimate at the most recent Dakar.

Featured image credit: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool