Defender stands on the verge of victory in the Dakar Rally

One hundred and forty-one kilometres. That’s all that stands between Defender and a history-making maiden victory in the Stock class on the 2026 Dakar Rally. And it enters the final day in good form: straight off the back of Sara Price triumphing on Stage 12 to uphold the brand’s perfect winning record so far. With Rokas Baciuška rounding out a ninth podium clean sweep for the team on Friday, he takes a huge four-hour lead heading into the showdown. 

Stage 12 was like a double concentrate measure of the Dakar, a snapshot of everything the Saudi Arabian landscape has to offer. Breaking up a long 408 kilometres of road liaison section, the 311-kilometre timed course opened with high-speed gravel tracks away from the Al Henakiyah overnight stay. After the narrow winding route negotiated dusty dried-up riverbeds, it then plunged through soft sandy dunes fields before closing through a stretch of volcanic rock-lined canyon passes. That familiar-looking shape at the finish line was the Yanbu ‘bivouac’ base camp, where the rally-raid started way back on the 3^rd of January. 

Edging nearer to the end of his 36^th appearance in the Dakar, Stéphane Peterhansel set the pace in the Stock class for production-based vehicles through the first checkpoint. After 45 kilometres, the 14-time event winner headed Price by a slim nine seconds as Baciuška started the day in third place. The three Defenders had already built up a six-minute margin ahead of the two rival Toyota Land Cruisers before Price powered her way into the lead over the next 50 kilometres, running 26 seconds clear of Peterhansel while Baciuška sat a minute behind. 

The American and her co-driver Sean Berriman continued to stretch the legs of the Defender Dakar D7X-R, which features a showroom-spec gearbox, drivelines, chassis and bodywork as well as using the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 from the Defender OCTA. The duo’s advantage peaked at a minute and a half. That was until Peterhansel turned up the wick. He closed to within 19 seconds (Baciuška was only another 17 seconds back) come the 184-kilometre mark and then, moving into first place, pulled the exact same gap out ahead of Price.

The game of cat-and-mouse continued deep into the final third of the stage. Price retook the lead with only 60 kilometres to go, nipping in front of Peterhansel and navigator Michaël Metge by 78 seconds. That gave Price the last say, the X-Games medallist triumphing in the Stock class on Stage 12 after 4 hours 17 minutes and 35 seconds in the hot seat. 

“Today was a good day,” said Price, who also won the Prologue plus Stages 2 and 6. “I started in front of our team-mates [in the running order]. The team just had a plan for us to stay cautious and stay collected and keep everything together to get through the stage. We all tried to stay in our positions and executed the day to make sure the car came back in one piece. I’m very pumped to get another stage win. Very excited about that. One more day!”

Peterhansel crossed the line a minute and 25 seconds further back in the middle of a ninth 1-2-3 finish for Defender on its first official entry in the world’s greatest rally-raid. ‘Mr Dakar’ added: “Today, it was not an easy stage. It was only 311 kilometres but a lot of rocks. It was not easy to be fast. For us, we took it super easy because it was super demanding for the tyres. On the way, we managed with no punctures at all. We drove also very often in the dust, so it was a mix of being sometimes nice to drive but sometimes horrible visibility.”

The winner of six stages so far, Baciuška arrived back in Yanbu a tight 45 seconds behind Peterhansel. That means the Lithuanian and his co-driver Oriol Vidal maintain their mighty four-hour lead in the combined Stock category times ahead of the very last stage, with Price holding station in P2 and Peterhansel sitting fourth – his podium chances knocked by a snapped alternator belt that forced him to retire from Stage 8 on Monday. 

Baciuška said: “It was a tough stage, actually – more than 80% of it over stones. So, while it was a short stage, it took a long time. Otherwise, the car worked well. We have the finish tomorrow. Let’s bring the Defender to the finish line!”

After 14 days, 12 stages (plus the Prologue qualifying heat) and nearly 7,900 kilometres through the heart of Saudi Arabia, there’s just the final leg of the 48^th Dakar to go. While Stage 13 isn’t the biggest in terms of distance, it’s anything but an easy run to the chequered flag. A 108-kilometre timed section twists and turns through the mountainous Yanbu landscape before dropping down to the Red Sea coastline. What last-minute surprises lay in store? Follow here for an update from the finish line. 

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