After skipping the 2025 race, Ignacio Casale is returning to the Dakar Rally in 2026. He will drive a Taurus T3 Max from BBR Motorsport with Cadu Sachs as navigator.

“The car gives me a lot of peace of mind,” Casale said during his Friday press conference at the Casale Motors dealership in Santiago. “Though I also really enjoy being a mechanic. I know how to solve problems in the middle of the desert.”

Making his Dakar debut in 2011, Casale won the Quads in 2014, 2018, and 2020. Between his second and third wins, he decided to try out the UTV class for the 2019 Dakar but retired. A full-time switch to driving came after the 2020 victory.

He spent two years in a Tatra for Buggyra, placing ninth in Truck in 2021 and retiring in 2022. Casale then returned to T3s in a Yamaha from X-raid. He finished tenth in T3 in 2023 but retired a year later in his most recent Dakar because of mechanical issues. Despite the DNF, Casale won a stage.

Casale sat out the 2025 Dakar to focus on “other projects”. One such project was securing a partnership with Chery’s Chilean division, who will be closely involved with his Dakar effort as primary sponsor.

Sachs finished second in Challenger at this year’s Dakar as the navigator for Gonçalo Guerreiro.

Featured image credit: Florent Gooden / DPPI / ASO