Cristina Gutiérrez has joined Santana Racing Team, both parties announced Tuesday. Officially, it’s just for the Baja Aragón and Rallye du Maroc, but one can reasonable expect her to be at the Dakar Rally in January too. Marc Solà will serve as navigator on their Santana Pick-Up T1+ car.

Gutiérrez has spent the last three years with Dacia, competing on a part-time basis unlike her teammates because she’s still getting the hang of the Ultimate category. Although she signed a contract extension with Dacia through the 2027 Dakar, the team is shutting down at season’s end.

Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sébastien Loeb, and Lucas Moraes have not revealed their 2027 plans. Moraes recently won the Rallye dos Sertões in a prototype based on the Toyota Hilux, while Loeb had spoken with Toyota too. Al-Attiyah has been doing bajas in an MD Optimus, though mentioned Kia and Chinese manufacturers could be Dacia’s successor at Prodrive.

As the only one not running the full schedule, Gutiérrez wasn’t limited to Dacia even while the team is operational. In 2025, she raced the Baja Aragón in a Taurus T3 Max.

Santana is a new outfit that debuted in January’s Dakar with Jesús Calleja. His Pick-Up T1+ was a rebadged Century CR7, which eventually retired due to a massive crash. Calleja is now the team’s sporting director, but therefore won’t be competing at Dakar in 2027.

Gutiérrez’s Santana, on the other hand, is a brand-new car with its own design.

Featured image credit: Julien Delfosse / DPPI / ASO