David Brock will make his Dakar Rally debut in 2026 after receiving his acceptance letter on Friday.

“Our application’s officially been accepted — we’re in! Huge thanks to everyone backing the dream,” wrote Brock on Friday. “Now the real grind begins”.

An Australian rider, Brock typically does amateur and domestic rallies such as the Addax Rally and Hellas Rally Raid. At the latter in May, he finished 36th overall and 13th in M2; Brock moved up from the M3 class, where he was 27th in 2024. Back home, he’s done events like the Sunraysia Safari Rally, where he finished 12th for bikes last year.

In February, he stepped up for his maiden World Rally-Raid Championship start by competing in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Save for a one-minute speeding penalty in Stage 2 and a roadbook glitch that briefly delayed his Stage 4 start, Brock ran a clean race to finish 16th in Rally2. His best daily outing was also a 16th on the final day.

Brock is good friends with fellow Aussies Bradley Healy and Andrew Houlihan, who’ve helped him train for rallies and vice versa. Houlihan raced this year’s Dakar Rally.

Featured image credit: Irina Petrichei / Edophoto / DPPI / ASO