Thursday, January 23, 2014

Bowler's Land Rover Defender Challenge

God I love me some Land Rover Defender...

If there is a vehicle I would LOVE to have in my stable it would be the Defender...Like a Jeep Wrangler--but way cooler.  And in bright yellow please!

So how awesome is it that Bowler (the company making all sort of Dakar spec Land Rover based race vehicles) has created its own offroad racing series with "inexpensive" Defenders?  Some $83K will get you the race vehicle all kitted out for racing and it sounds like another $22K gets you your entry fee into all seven 2014 events (a bit over $3K a race....not bad at all considering it comes with full catering in the pits, full service by the Bowler team and can then compete alongside the Bowler works team in international competition).

For your money you get to rip around the English countryside in rally-raid style events designed to prep any aspiring racer for events like the Dakar or Africa Eco-Challenge or any of the dozens of Rally-Raid events taking place throughout Europe and Africa.  A simple vehicle amply ready to be beat upon and withstand beginner mistakes the Defender makes a great platform for some rough and tough racing.  Supposedly almost all slots in the '14 series are spoken for and represent a great way to get into the high end of the sport for the inexperienced.

Plus maybe in a year or two they'll start selling some of the "gently loved" race-spec Defenders...A short article by the Top Gear folks is found below on this series...

Top Gear on the Bowler Challenge...
Bowler Defender Challenge...

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