If you can beat ’em, join ’em.

Last Friday, Lucas Moraes won the World Rally-Raid Championship by defeating Nasser Al-Attiyah of Dacia. Just four days later on Tuesday, Dacia announced Moraes will be in a fourth Sandrider for the 2026 season.

“This is a new and exciting chapter in my career, and I feel very motivated to represent such an ambitious project,” said Moraes. “With Dacia, I believe we can achieve great things and I’m very thankful for this opportunity. I can’t wait to start this journey and fight for strong results alongside the team.”

Moraes had been linked to Dacia since March, when parent company Renault Group was looking for a driver who could help them tap into the Brazilian market. In the meantime, he was in the title battle with Toyota Gazoo Racing, a pursuit that ultimately succeeded when he scored his maiden win at the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal then wrapped up the season with a runner-up at last week’s Rallye du Maroc.

He is the first driver besides Al-Attiyah to win the W2RC title (unlike other classes, Ultimate does not have its own individual trophy) since its inception in 2022. Ironically, Al-Attiyah had won the 2022 and 2023 championships with TGR before migrating to Prodrive, who co-operates the Dacia Sandriders. Even more fittingly, Moraes finished second in Morocco to his new colleague Sébastien Loeb.

On Monday, TGR confirmed Moraes’ departure along with those of his navigator Armand Monleón and Seth Quintero’s co-driver Dennis Zenz. Zenz will follow Moraes to Dacia.

“Rally raid has changed a lot over the past year, with the competition becoming tighter and more intense,” began Dacia boss Tiphanie Isnard. “Nowadays, victories are decided by seconds rather than minutes, especially thanks to the FIA’s Balance of Performance system. To allow Dacia to fight for victory, it was essential to have a structure comparable to that of other manufacturers, who enter at least four cars. Adding a new crew to our lineup therefore came as an obvious choice.

“The final step was to find a duo capable of matching these ambitions. When the time came to choose, Lucas clearly stood out as the best performer statistically, and his personality makes him instantly appreciated by everyone. The same goes for Dennis. Maintaining the spirit and cohesion we’ve built within The Dacia Sandriders was essential for us, and both fit perfectly into this team dynamic that defines our strength.”

Al-Attiyah finished second in points to Moraes while Loeb was fourth. The team’s third driver Cristina Gutiérrez ran a part-time schedule with starts at Dakar, Portugal, and Morocco.

Featured image credit: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool