Defender Rally Wins Portugal - A Clean Sweep at the Top of the Class
Defender Rally has done it again! At the 2026 bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, all three Defender Dakar D7X-R crews made it to the finish - with Stephane Peterhansel and Mika Metge taking the Stock class win!
A 1-2-3 podium sweep! In just their second W2RC event! Let that sink in!
A Different Beast to Dakar
Portugal isn't Dakar! Forget the dunes - this was mud, tight forest tracks and fast technical stages across Portugal and Spain! A completely different challenge, and Defender adapted! What stood out was the pace! The D7X-R was consistently running alongside the Ultimate class - the unrestricted prototypes - across multiple stages! That's not something you'd expect from a production-derived car!
And the numbers back it up! In the overall Car category - running against a 66-car field that included 24 unrestricted Ultimate class prototypes & various purpose-built Rally Cars - Peterhansel finished 16th, Baciuska 17th, and Price 30th! For a production-based OCTA in the Stock class, that's seriously impressive!
What the Drivers Said
Stephane Peterhansel, Defender Rally Driver:
"The team adapt the car to the condition of the route, and it was not easy job for the team. They worked hard for this. This is why I'm really proud."
Rokas Baciuska, Defender Rally Driver:
"We take important championship points and move forward. Next stop - Argentina in a couple of months!"
Sara Price, Defender Rally Driver:
"Today's stage was a blast. We had an amazing day and great pace."
The OCTA Connection
The D7X-R isn't some exotic race car - it starts life as a production Defender OCTA! Same transmission, same driveline, same D7x body architecture as the one you see driving around town!
Seeing a modified OCTA sweep a W2RC podium and trade pace with full prototypes says everything about the platform! At New Defender Mods, we've been saying it for a while - and Defender Rally just proved it on the world stage!
Our own OCTA build & our customers' OCTA's are built on exactly this platform! The bones are rally-proven! Now it's just about what you do with them!
What's Next?
Round 3 heads to Desafio Ruta 40, Argentina - 24-29 May 2026. We'll be watching, and we'll have the full breakdown when it happens!