Recruitment for the 2008/9 Land Rover G4 Challenge has officially commenced. Men and women from Australia can now sign up to represent their country in the latest edition of this 4x4 and adventure sports competition, and help generate more than £1m for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Anyone can sign up on the Challenge website, www.landroverG4Challenge.com, and through a series of national and international selections one man and one woman will be chosen to represent their national team against 17 other countries in the three-week long Challenge Finals in 2009.
The successful competitors will travel to spectacular remote locations in Asia and for a real adventure of a lifetime, where 4x4 off-road driving will be mixed with sporting challenges including kayaking, mountain biking and climbing to test the teams strength, stamina and strategic awareness.
Land Rover created a heritage of adventure for itself when in 1970 two Range Rovers became the first vehicles to complete a land crossing of the Darien Gap swamplands that divide North America from South America. The Land Rover G4 Challenge was inaugurated in 2003, when Belgian fighter pilot Rudi Thoelen emerged victorious from a cliff hanging finale in the Moab desert, USA. The next Challenge, in 2006, went deep into rugged, remote locations in Thailand, Laos, Brazil and Bolivia, coming to an end at an altitude of over 4000m with South African Martin Dreyer emerging victorious.
Land Rover Australia Marketing & Public Affairs Manager Jon Harris said: "The G4 Challenge is an amazing event that gives people the chance to experience a real adventure and not only tests physical strength but also mental and strategic talents and teamwork, and this time it will be raising money for a very worthy cause.
"The new team format marks a massively exciting move for the Challenge and we are expecting thousands of entrants from the 18 nations on the list. Only two people from Australia will go to Asia for the adventure of a lifetime, but winning a place on the Challenge is all part of the excitement and anyone who signs up can expect an incredible experience.
"The Challenge is all about pushing yourself and your vehicle as hard as possible in some of the world's most spectacular locations. National Selections will run this year with International Selections, in 2009, deciding the one man and one woman from each nation who will compete together in what will be a life-changing event."
The two previous Challenge Finals were won by Belgian Fighter pilot Rudi Thoelens, in 2003, and South African sportsman Martin Dreyer, in 2006 with female competitors Eleonora Audra, of Brazil, and Australian Alina McMaster enjoying individual competition wins and finishing fifth and sixth out of 18 individual competitors the last event.
Dreyer, winner in 2006, said: "I can't imagine anything else ever comparing with the Challenge. The camaraderie, the competition, the focus, it really is life-changing. The last Challenge was an amazing experience and I am sure the new format will make the next one even more exciting."
Audra added: "I will never forget the Challenge. It was just the best experience of my life - in fact, it changed my life. The sports, the spirit of adventure, enjoying the outdoors and travelling around the world, it was all an amazing experience."
Three major new nations - the United States, Canada and China - will be joining an international field to battle for victory in what will be an environmentally sensitive and fully carbon offset event and the winning team will be given a Land Rover vehicle to donate to their country's National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society.
National Selections for Australia will take place in the second half of 2008 to decide the two men and two women to go through to International Selections in early 2009, with the Challenge Finals set to run in mid-2009.
The 18 participating nations are:
- Australia
- China
- Netherlands
- Turkey
- Austria
- France
- Norway/Sweden
- UK
- Belgium/Luxemburg
- Germany
- Russia
- USA
- Brazil
- Ireland
- South Africa
- Canada
- Italy
- Spain
