Defender Rally will not be at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in November, the team confirmed on Monday. This week’s Rallye du Maroc is therefore the final start for the Defender D7X-R in 2026 before focus shifts toward the 2027 Dakar Rally.

Although the Rallye du Maroc is the penultimate race of the 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship while the Stock class will indeed be at Abu Dhabi, Defender is the only team in the category to have run every race up to this point. As a result, Morocco will essentially be the Stock championship decider: Rokas Baciuška currently leads with 199 points followed by Stéphane Peterhansel’s 170 and Sara Price’s 164. Ronald Basso (56) and Akira Miura (42) are the only other Stock drivers earning points, but Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body only ran Dakar while Miura has since switched to Ultimate.

“Defender Rally is fully focused on Rallye du Maroc, which will be the team’s last competitive outing of the 2026 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship,” team boss Ian James stated. “It’s already been a fantastic first year of W2RC competition for Defender Rally, and we’re looking forward to fighting hard in Morocco where one of our driver and co-driver pairings will be crowned champions of the Stock class. We’ll then immediately turn our attention to preparations for the 2027 W2RC season.”

Morocco is often used by teams as a dress rehearsal for Dakar, and is traditionally the last round of the W2RC for this reason. Abu Dhabi is only the finale for 2026 due to Ramadan and will return to its traditional spring slot in 2027. Like with next January’s Dakar, whether the ADDC even takes place is also up for question due to the war in the region, though there are currently no plans to call it off.

Baciuška won Dakar while Peterhansel has claimed the two latest rounds in Portugal and Argentina. Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body is Defender’s main rival at Dakar and also their only competition in Morocco with Yasir Seaidan (Christian Lavieille is in the Open class).

“We head into this next round with some strong results behind us and a clear understanding of what we need to deliver next,” said James. “Every kilometer of racing is a valuable lesson for the Defender Rally team, especially in our debut season, and our focus remains on getting the best performance from the D7X-R and our crews. We know Rallye du Maroc will be a tough challenge, but we have insights from the successful three rounds we’ve completed, and confidence in our entire team. Let’s see what Morocco has in store.

“We know the stages will be tough, with long days in the car and some tricky terrain, but we’ll work hard to stay focused throughout. We’ve got a great team and a robust race car in the D7X-R, so the goal is to avoid mistakes, stay consistent, be fast and bring the car to the finish line.”

2026 is the first season in Defender’s three-year W2RC program.

Featured image credit: Helena Clancy / Edophoto / DPPI / ASO