Bell & Ross joins Defender Rally for Dakar Rally 2026 as official timekeeper

KUALA LUMPUR: Bell & Ross has been named an official partner of the Defender Rally team for its 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) effort, starting with the Dakar Rally 2026 in Saudi Arabia.

The opening round of the W2RC began on 3 January 2026, and Bell & Ross will act as the team’s official timekeeper. The Defender Rally squad will run the Defender Dakar D7X-R, tackling the long-distance rally-raid stages across the Saudi desert where timing, navigation, and endurance tend to decide outcomes as much as outright speed.

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As part of the partnership, Bell & Ross says it will supply the team with the BR-X3 Black Titanium. The watch is built with grade-2 titanium, uses a COSC-certified manufacture movement, and is designed around clear legibility, which fits the practical demands of rally-raid competition where crews are operating under fatigue, heat, and constant vibration.

The deal links the watch brand to one of motorsport’s toughest events, with Dakar continuing to be the headline proving ground for rally-raid teams and manufacturers heading into the 2026 W2RC season.

The team is fielding a three-car driver and co-driver line-up that mixes proven Dakar experience with newer rally-raid talent. That includes Stéphane Peterhansel alongside Mika Metge, Rokas Baciuška with Oriol Vidal, and Sara Price paired with Sean Berriman.

5,000 km of timed stages, one rest day, and a “Stock” category focus

This year’s Dakar runs from 03–17 January, with only one rest day, and the team says crews will face almost 5,000 km of timed stages over extreme terrain in Saudi Arabia.

The Land Rover Defender is targeting the ‘Stock’ category in the W2RC, which places tighter limits on how far teams can move away from the production car. The angle is straightforward, it is a category built to show what a road-going base vehicle can handle, rather than a full prototype arms race.

Based on the Defender OCTA, but upgraded where Dakar demands it

The Defender Dakar D7X-R is described as being derived from the Defender OCTA, and while it stays close to the production car to meet Stock rules, it still gets key hardware changes for rally-raid duty.

Defender lists the D7X-R modifications as:

• Wider track

• Increased ride height

• New suspension

• Enhanced cooling for extreme terrain and weather

Under the skin, Defender says the rally car sticks with the production fundamentals, including the D7x body architecture, and the same transmission and driveline layout as the Defender OCTA. The bodies are also built on the Defender production assembly line at JLR’s Nitra, Slovakia facility.

Power comes from the OCTA’s 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, which the company says is mechanically unchanged, and will run on an advanced sustainable fuel.

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