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 Range 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.”
