Land Rover UK Selects G4 Challengers

Press Release

The UK national selections started on Saturday, when 48 competitors from around the country achieved their first task by locating the map coordinates and arriving at Land Rover's ‘Home of the Legend’ at the company's Solihull factory. What followed was a gruelling weekend of physical and mental challenges, designed to find the three competitors who have what it takes to win the Land Rover G4 Challenge to be held in April next year.

The 12 women and 36 men selected from thousands of applicants were brimming with expectation and tension as they were thrown into a demanding morning of activities designed to thoroughly test them in a range of mental and physical areas.

After five hours of activities with names like Spine Tingler, Ladder Rack and Jungle Fever, the 48 exhausted, cold and battered competitors were lined up in front of a huge world map depicting the Challenge route through Thailand, Laos, Brazil and Bolivia and the group was unceremoniously cut to 24.

There was no rest for the remaining 24 competitors as they embarked on a new range of 4x4 driving, navigation, initiative and physical assessments, taking them well into the night. Then, cold and tired, they were woken from their tents at 4.30am and dragged back out into the night for a group problem solving exercise involving the rescue of a submerged Land Rover Defender from the Solihull factory's frozen lake.

This challenge was followed immediately by a kayaking exercise through the ice-encrusted water, climbing and abseiling a frost-bitten 12-metre wall, technical 4x4 driving in the Defender, Discovery 3 and Range Rover Sport through the Land Rover Experience Jungle Track testing ground, mountain biking and mechanical aptitude. This series of activities brought to a close the UK national selections for the 2006 Land Rover G4 Challenge, where three successful candidates were selected to go forward to the International Selections in February next year for the chance to represent the UK in the actual Challenge.

Land Rover UK marketing programmes manager, Bill Welch, said: "We've met a group of 50 remarkable people this weekend, with all-round qualities of an extremely high standard. The commitment, camaraderie and spirit of adventure they have shown has been outstanding. But this weekend was all about finding three potential representatives for the UK, and Brian, Suzanne and Andrew stood out in this very talented crowd. We are sure that any one of the three will make an awesome final choice for the UK come February."

One of the three victors from this weekend will be selected in February to represent the UK and compete with competitors from 17 other countries in the actual Challenge which starts on 23 April 2006 in Bangkok. The Challenge takes place over four weeks, incorporating 4x4 driving and multi-sport challenges in Thailand, Laos, Brazil and Bolivia. The nations to be represented in the 2006 Land Rover G4 Challenge are: Argentina Germany Russia Australia Greece South Africa Belgium Ireland Spain Brazil Italy Taiwan Chile & Costa Rica Japan Turkey France Netherlands United Kingdom