2026 Taklimakan Rally: GWM TANK Rules the Merciless Desert

(SeaPRwire) –   URUMQI, China, May 30, 2026 — The 2026 Taklimakan Rally isn’t a quick dash across sand dunes. After four stages, GWM has already established a dominant lead in every T2 production vehicle category it participated in.

From SS1 to SS4, the results paint a consistent picture. In the T2.E new-energy production category, Pau Navarro and Jan Rosa secured the overall win in a GWM TANK 700 Hi4-T, with teammates Nicolás Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini finishing second, and Gerard Farres and Bruno Jacomy taking third — all three podium spots went to the same model. In T2.1 fuel production, Eniriltu and Aobulege claimed the title, with Nayintai and Onchinjab close behind. In T2.3 club production, Zhou Renbin and Zhang Tengzhong took first place, Huang Dongxu and Tang Shixin came in second, and Zhang Guoqiang and Lou Liyuan rounded out the podium. Across three groups, GWM swept the podiums over four stages, with all twelve driver-navigator pairs avoiding retirement.

The Taklimakan Desert doesn’t care about empty boasts. Nights bring bone-chilling cold, the midday sun blazes with unrelenting intensity, and a single moment of slack can mean being swallowed whole by the merciless soft sand.

SS3 was 468 kilometers — the longest special stage the rally has seen in years. SS2 cuts through the Kumtag Desert for 293 kilometers. Engine temperatures spike quickly out there, leaving almost no room for error.

GWM completed all four stages without a single mechanical retirement. That’s not luck; when you put a vehicle in the desert on its own harsh terms, this is what you get.

The GWM TANK 700 Hi4-T in T2.E competition uses the same powertrain as the factory-produced version — the 3.0T V6 engine, Hi4-T hybrid system, transmission, and four-wheel-drive architecture remain unchanged. The vehicle was prepared to T2.E homologation requirements: safety equipment was installed to regulatory standards, but no modifications were made to how the engine and hybrid system deliver power to the wheels. This means every kilometer driven in the rally is a real-world test of the production platform under extreme conditions. What the desert breaks, the Hi4-T system holds.

A production SUV completing four straight stages in the Taklimakan without breaking down isn’t just a rally stat — it means something. The Hi4-T platform’s torque delivery, power management, and heat tolerance are all pushed far harder than any road car ever would be. Every part that makes it through the desert has been run past its design limits in conditions most owners will never experience.

That’s the real value of motorsport-backed engineering: not a car that’s quicker on paper, but one that doesn’t quit when things get tough.

GWM participated in the rally with four manufacturer teams, twelve driver-navigator pairs (Chinese and international), and a 5,000-square-meter dedicated camp outside Korla. The crew worked around the clock: cars went out, came back, and the team prepped them for the next stage. Pau Navarro chose the GWM TANK 700 Hi4-T after testing it in Xinjiang before the rally. Gerard Farres made the same choice independently. Dakar veterans don’t pick a vehicle for the badge — they pick what the desert tells them works.

The rally continues, and GWM leads in every category it entered.

Contact:globalmarketing@gwm.cn