Land Rover Monthly – October 2019

LANDROVER MONTHLY 9

NEWS

W

ITH the new Defender notfar

offfrom itsworld premiere

(register your interest

at landrover. com/defender/

index.html)storiesof its prototypes being

tested allover theworld are rife. The

latest oneto emergein the pressis of it

being put through itspaces under the

watchful eye of all-terrainexperts from the

InternationalFederationof Red Crossand

Red CrescentSocieties (IFRC).

The prototypevehicle visited the IFRC

global fleetbasein Dubai where it

tackled theregion’s rolling dunes and

shruggedoffsteep ascents, demanding

side slopes and blind crests. With

temperaturesin excess of 40 degrees, the

iconic hairpinsof the Jebel Jais highway

were the next destination, as the Defender

demonstrated its on-road comfort and

agile handling,scaling altitudesof nearly

2000 metresto scale thetallest mountain

COMPILED BY LOUISE WOODHAMS

in the United Arab Emirates.

NickRogers, Jaguar LandRover

Executive DirectorProduct Engineering,

said: “It sits ontyres with anoverall

diameter of upto 815 mm,resulting ina

very largecontactpatch. Coupled with our

bespoke tractioncontrol system, which

monitors and adjusts for a largevariety

of terrains, this makesthe new Defender

fantastic onsand and incredibly smooth

onroad aswell.”

The test in Dubaicoincides with

therenewal of LandRover’s global

partnership with the IFRC – arelationship

that dates back 65years, to 1954,

when the first specially-adapted Land

Rover entered service in theregion asa

mobile dispensary.This year marks the

humanitarian organisation’s centenary as it

celebrates‘100Yearsof Hope’.

Over the next threeyears, LandRover

will support disaster preparedness and

Defender protot ype pushed

to the limits by Red Cross

response initiativesin locations including

India, Mexico andAustralia.

IlirCaushaj, IFRC’sTe amLeadfor

GlobalFleets andLogistics, said: “The

Red Crosssupports millionsof people in

crisiseveryyear,working in almost every

country in theworld.Weoperate insome

of the most hard-to-reach placesonearth,

often working invery difficultterrain,so

ourteams haveto be ableto cope with

anything.That’s whywe’re proudto have

partnered with LandRover since 1954,

andto be putting their new Defenderto

thetest,astogether they help usreach

vulnerablecommunities in crisis, whoever

and wherever in theworld they are.”

Sofar, prototype models havecovered

more than 1.2 million kilometresof testing,

including aweek-long initiative with wildlife

conservation charityTu sk, inKenya, anda

dynamic appearance on thefamous hillat

the GoodwoodFestivalof Speed.

See the Defendertesting herehttps://youtu.be/_9l0DbNgl2g

LRM Women’s Driving Day

ONSeptember 29 the infamous

Billing Lakeside Off-road Coursein

Northamptionshire will be hostinga

Driving Dayexclusivelyfor women.A

brand-neweventfor 2019 and LRM, it

will run from9.30 amto 1 pm and guests

willget to trial their LandRovers on

the less technicalof thetwo coursesat

Billing, and learn what they needto doto

takeon alltypesof terrain, giving them

theconfidenceto taketheirvehicles out

whatever theweather.The LRMWomen’s

Dayoffers afantastic opportunityfor

ladiesto taketheirvehiclesoff-road ina

safe environment, complete with help and

advice from on-siteexperts – includingRo

Furby who is the LRELead Instructorfor

Solihull and specially supporting the day

for LRM.Rohas hosted luminaries such

asPrinceWilliam and also helped injured

servicewoman.Ticketscosts £40, but with

a special discountcode(quote LRM10)

you willget £10offyour ticket. Men are

welcometo attendto support thewomen

in their lives, but onlyfemale drivers will

be allowed out on thecourse. Book now

by goingto https://lrmevents.co.uk/

The LRMWomen’s Driving Day is notto be missed lrmoffroadday2019/e n/page/womens-day.