- Land Rover to be the Official Partner to the Red Bull Desert
Wings Dakar team in 2014
- Land Rover will provide five all-terrain vehicles to Red Bull
to support the teams throughout the 2014 Dakar –
the toughest race in the world
- Land Rover-backed Race2Recovery team will share the Red Bull
Bivouac throughout the 2014 race
Whitley, 16 December 2013. Land Rover is
pleased to announce that it will be the official vehicle supplier
to the Red Bull Desert Wings team for the 2014 Dakar in South
America.
Red Bull has chosen Land Rover as official vehicle supplier for
the 2014 Dakar due to its advanced all-terrain expertise and
technology to support the various teams sitting under the Red Bull
Desert Wings collective. Five Land Rovers have been supplied
including Defender, Discovery, all-new Range Rover and Ranger Rover
Sport with the latter actually following the demanding route of the
Dakar. The other four vehicles will follow the support route
carrying necessary tools and equipment to support the members of
the team. Each vehicle is completely standard and will carry
optional roof-racks and spare wheels/tyres to cope with the demands
of the Red Bull team.
The All-New Range Rover Sport is the same vehicle that recently
completed the fastest ever recorded production SUV time on the
infamous Pikes Peak in June of this year. The 5.0 litre V8
Supercharged Sport has a motorsport homologated roll-cage and will
enable Red Bull's official photographers to capture the best
moments of the Dakar. They will depend on the vehicle's next
generation ground-breaking Terrain Response® 2 system
which automatically selects the most suitable terrain programme
according to the varied topography they will come across. The Range
Rover Sport's agility and speed will also aid them to keep up with
the competitors who will be covering vast distances each day.
The Red Bull Desert Wings team encompasses various teams in each
of the three classes, bikes, cars and trucks. The Land Rover-backed
Race2Recovery team of injured soldiers who against all odds
finished this year's Dakar will return in January with one truck
and two car entries. The team this year will be welcomed on a daily
basis into the Red Bull Bivouac providing Race2Recovery with
additional resource and infrastructure. The team will also have run
two Land Rover Discoverys as support vehicles.
This year's Dakar rally will start on the 5th January in
Rosario, Argentina and will conclude in Valparaiso in Chile on the
18th January after the competitors have covered just under 5000 km
over some of the world's toughest terrain.
Mark Cameron, Jaguar Land Rover Global Brand Experience Director
said: "The Red Bull Desert Wings team has sought a vehicle partner
with all-terrain expertise to reliably support the various entrants
in the toughest race in the world. I am delighted that they have
come to us. The All-new Range Rover Sport will provide a
combination of superior off-road capability, and sure-footedness
which will put the photographers in good stead to capture the best
moments of the race.
"The Range Rover, Discovery and Defender models will support the
rest of the team with ample space, refinement and capability to
ably back the competitors. I wish all the Red Bull Desert Wings
teams, riders and drivers the very best of luck and I look forward
to watching their progress in January."
For further information contact:
- Editor's Note: Since 1948 Land Rover has
been manufacturing authentic 4x4s that represent true breadth of
capability across the model range. Defender, Freelander, Discovery,
Range Rover Sport, Range Rover and Range Rover Evoque each define
the world's 4x4 sectors. Land Rover products are currently sold in
approximately 180 global markets.