Sara Price is unsure if she’ll be able to race the full World Rally-Raid Championship, but she’s taking a step in the right direction. On Wednesday, she confirmed she will rejoin Defender Rally for the second round of the season in Portugal.

Currently in its debut season, Defender Rally was already set to run the full calendar with Rokas Baciuška and Stéphane Peterhansel. Price, on the other hand, joined the team on a race-by-race basis because she can’t afford to do all five rounds; this has been an issue plaguing her rally raid career, having had to abort her 2024 campaign despite being a Can-Am factory driver for the same reason.

Along with three stage wins, Price finished second in Stock to Baciuška at the season-opening Dakar Rally. It was her first time in the class after racing in SSV for the past two years.

“Dakar was an amazing experience and I’m so proud of the results the team achieved and the resilience we showed throughout,” said Price. “I’m looking forward to Portugal. We really want to build on that momentum. We know our strengths and we know where we can improve, and we’re determined to push to the finish again.”

Sean Berriman will remain her navigator for the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal on March 17–22.

“There’s no doubt that Portugal poses an entirely different challenge to Dakar,” team boss Ian James offered. “With tighter, more technical stages, consistency and precision are key. Reliability is everything, especially in Stock, and Dakar showed that the Defender Dakar D7X-R vehicle is extremely competitive. The aim is to build on that Dakar momentum as we focus on the W2RC that lays ahead.

“Following her stellar performance at Dakar, we’re keen to see Sara put her learnings into action on European soil and we’re thrilled to have our three-driver line-up representing the team.”

In the meantime, Price will be returning to the Mint 400 on Friday in a Can-Am. Her boyfriend Ricky Brabec is also taking part in his own UTV.

Featured image credit: Antonin Vincent / DPPI / ASO