Jaguar Land Rover Supports Defender in the '2021 Dakar Rally'

Planned for Use as Essential Support Vehicles Without Separate Modification

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Jaguar Land Rover Korea announced on the 12th that the Land Rover All New Defender 110 model, boasting powerful durability and off-road capability, will participate as a support vehicle in the prestigious off-road automobile race, the ‘2021 Dakar Rally.’

The Dakar Rally is a competition that requires traversing a 7,646 km off-road course of the highest difficulty, including deserts, valleys, and mountain paths, over 13 days, and is known as the race from hell. The All New Defender will join the Bahrain Raid Extreme (BRX) team, led by professional drivers, as a support vehicle to take on the challenge.

During the Dakar Rally, the All New Defender 110 will transport essential supplies and equipment for the BRX team and will serve as a support unit under extreme conditions such as deserts, sand dunes, mud, camel grass, and rocks. The BRX driver lineup includes S?bastien Loeb from France, a nine-time World Rally Champion, and Nani Roma from Spain, a two-time Dakar Rally winner. Throughout the grueling 12-stage desert drive, the All New Defender will provide essential support to BRX team members who must camp, eat, and sleep in the vehicle.

The All New Defender participating in this competition is a stock production vehicle equipped with a 400-horsepower inline 6-cylinder Ingenium gasoline engine featuring MHEV technology, without any separate modifications. It is equipped with an expedition roof rack providing a 132 kg load capacity, a snorkel air intake that supplies air to the engine during deep water crossings to ensure stable driving, durable wheel arch protection, and an exterior side-mounted gear carrier with waterproof and locking functions to safely store items outside the vehicle. Additionally, it is optimized to carry necessary items for the competitors during the race, including a deployable roof ladder for easy access to the roof box.

The All New Defender carries a payload of 900 kg and a maximum roof load of 168 kg while driving, allowing for various equipment and consumables to be mounted. It also features the world’s first fully automatic Terrain Response 2 system technology, which finely adjusts the vehicle according to the driver’s driving preferences and challenging driving conditions.

Finbar McFall, Jaguar Land Rover Customer Experience Director, said, “Although the All New Defender will not compete directly in this rally, it will play an important role in supporting the team as they race across thousands of miles of harsh desert.” He added, “Above all, the fact that the All New Defender has not undergone any separate modifications for the Dakar Rally proves that it has excellent four-wheel-drive performance and durability through the most demanding engineering tests and development programs in Land Rover’s history.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.