Dacia will go for the 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship, but that’s basically it. A spokesperson confirmed to DirtFish on Thursday that the team intends to run the rest of the season before shutting down for good.

“The brand has reached its objective on Dakar 2026 and wants now to fight for the championship and will stop after to focus on its core business expertise,” the spokesperson told DirtFish. “The program was initially planned to stop after Dakar 2027.”

The team had planned to wait until the end of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal in March to make a decision, though Renault Group ultimately had the final say. Company executives met on Thursday to discuss the financial picture, which has been growing increasingly bleak to where the Alpine WEC program was also shut down. Renault had also shuttered its F1 engine division for the same reason.

The Sandriders began the 2026 season by winning the Dakar Rally in just their second year, with Nasser Al-Attiyah leading the way. Al-Attiyah had said before the Saudi Baja that his contract with the team runs through 2027 as does Cristina Gutiérrez, while newcomer Lucas Moraes had recently signed a three-year deal. Of course, Thursday’s confirmation means that is null.

While driving the Sandrider in the W2RC, Al-Attiyah was allowed to run bajas in the MD Optimus.

What happens to the Sandrider after 2026 is unknown, though it’s likely the T1+ will either be sold to private operations or simply return to technical partner Prodrive’s collection.

Featured image credit: Florent Gooden / DPPI / ASO