While Land Rover can be accused of many things, it has seldom been shy about generating public awareness at the most apposite times. For trialling purposes alone, having driven the tortuous tarmac of the Jebel Jais highway that climbs to the summit of the UAE’s highest mountain, I can confirm any on-road shakedowns will be given the ultimate test in both searing heat, hill-climbing and chassis stability. However, the programme has also taken in both high-speed desert crossings and somewhat slower but destructive rocky tracks across some of the least hospitable terrain in the world.
Involving the Red Cross and its affiliates is not a fresh process, as you may recall Land Rover has been working closely with IFRC on past projects, in fact since 1954, and has now re-signed a three years’ global partnership that focuses on disaster preparedness and response initiatives. Having been spotted on-road in the UK (usually not too far from Land Rover’s Gaydon test facility, in the West Midlands) and at various key events, such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed, while development exercises these days are seldom without end, the ‘disguise’ appliques are now less prevalent and the final outline of the new Defender model is abundantly clear.
This year marks the humanitarian organisation’s centenary as it celebrates ‘100 Years of Hope’. Over the next three years, Land Rover will support its initiatives in locations including India, Mexico and Australia.
Ilir Caushaj, IFRC’s Team Lead for Global Fleets and Logistics, told us: “The Red Cross supports millions of people in crisis every year, working in almost every country in the world. We operate in some of the most hard-to-reach places on earth, often working in very difficult terrain, so our teams have to be able to cope with anything. That’s why we’re proud to have partnered with Land Rover since 1954, and to be putting their new Defender to the test, as together they help us reach vulnerable communities in crisis, whoever and wherever in the world they are.”
The organisation’s fleet experts, who are based in Dubai, tested the Defender alongside Land Rover’s R&D personnel, in soft sand among the rolling dunes of the desert, where the prototype model is said to have shrugged off the steep ascents, demanding side slopes, traverses and blind crests that characterise all types of off-road driving in the region. With temperatures in excess of 40-degreesC, the iconic hairpins of the Jebel Jais highway became an inevitable next destination, as the Defender demonstrated its on-road comfort and agile handling, scaling altitudes of nearly 2,000m.
So far, prototype models have covered more than 1.2 million kilometres of testing, including a week-long initiative with wildlife conservation charity Tusk, in Kenya, and a dynamic appearance on the famous hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. To view the Defender testing, click on the following link: https://youtu.be/_9l0DbNgl2g.
