Dacia Sandriders Turns Up the Heat: Moraes and Zenz Expand the Team to Four Cars
Dacia Sandriders is raising its game. From the 2026 season, the team will field four cars in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, joining the ranks of top manufacturers with full-scale operations. The latest crew to sign on is Brazilian driver Lucas Moraes and German co-driver Dennis Zenz, both seasoned competitors with recent podium finishes across the world’s toughest desert rallies. Their target is clear: the Dakar and the W2RC overall title.
The expansion means the existing trios—Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin, and Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger—will now be joined by a fourth front-running duo. Moraes burst onto the scene at the 2023 Dakar Rally, finishing on the podium in his debut year. He went on to claim third in the 2024 W2RC standings and took his first stage win at Rally Raid Portugal in September, adding to podiums in Abu Dhabi and South Africa.
Zenz, also 35, guided Seth Quintero to a class runner-up finish at Dakar 2023 and multiple podiums at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in 2024 and 2025. His experience as a navigator, combined with Moraes’s aggressive yet calculated driving style, makes them a potent pairing for the strategic battles that define long-distance rally raids, where gaps are counted in seconds and pace is shaped by the Balance of Performance.
Four Cars, One Ambition
Team principal Tiphanie Isnard explained that among factory teams, four cars have become the new benchmark, helping to spread risk and multiply strategic options. “Lucas impressed us with his numbers and his personality, and Dennis fits perfectly into our team rhythm,” she said.
Dacia’s vice president of sales and marketing Frank Marotte added that the manufacturer’s ambitions stretch beyond participation. “Our goal is clear: to win the Dakar in 2026. That means hiring the best drivers and co-drivers, and providing them with a reliable, competitive package.”
Ready for the 2026 Season
Moraes called the move a new chapter in his career and said he was motivated to represent an ambitious project with long-term vision. Zenz echoed the sentiment, adding that a four-car team offers the structure and resources to challenge for driver, co-driver, and manufacturer titles throughout the entire W2RC calendar.
W2RC 2026 Schedule:
3–17 January: Dakar Rally, Saudi Arabia
17–22 March: Rally Raid Portugal, Portugal
24–29 May: Desafío Ruta 40, Argentina
28 September–3 October: Rallye du Maroc, Morocco
22–27 November: Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, UAE
With four cars and a line-up that includes world champions and rising stars alike, Dacia Sandriders now competes shoulder to shoulder with the biggest names in rally-raid racing.
