The ultimate global adventure

The Land Rover G4 Challenge is the ultimate adventure. Following the success of the very first Challenge in 2003, the adventure continued in 2006. The Land Rover G4 Challenge offers men and women from 18 nations the opportunity to match strategy, stamina and skill in an awesome 4x4 driving and multi-sport challenge. Working in bi-national teams, competitors are matched against each other across four consecutive stages spanning Southeast Asia and South America.

The Challenge unfolded in both urban and remote areas, with one competitor, representing one nation, emerging as the Challenge winner.

"006 G4 Challenge
 

The 2006 Challenge

The 2006 Land Rover G4 Challenge was a much tougher and more spectacular than the inaugural event in 2003. This time the action started amongst the intensity of Bangkok city, and ended at high altitude on the plains of Bolivia. In between lay thousands of miles of vehicle-based adventure, strategy and sweat. At the end of it all was a new Range Rover for the winner, and the knowledge that they completed a tough test of both body and mind for everyone who competed in the event.

But just getting to the Challenge was a test in its own right. Would-be competitors had to complete an entry form, after which each nation held a selection event. The top three competitors from each nation - one male, one female and one of either gender - then went to an international selection and training event in the UK.

At the end of this event, held at Eastnor Castle, one competitor per nation was chosen to take part in the ultimate global adventure. The remaining competitors acted as reserves, in case their nation´s chosen competitor was unable to complete the Challenge.

The following nations were represented during the 2006 Land Rover G4 Challenge:

Argentina, Australia, Belgium & Luxembourg, Brazil, Chile & Costa Rica, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Russia, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom

click here to view video footage

2003 Challenge

Stage 1 - Sunday March 30, 2003 – Friday April 4, 2003
The Challenge started amidst the hustle and bustle of the definitive urban jungle: New York City. With Manhattan as backdrop, teams first completed an urban challenge, before leaving the Big Apple in their Land Rover Freelander vehicles.
Their route then took them northwards – into the Catskill Mountains, famously depicted in the writings of John Burroughs before moving on to the adjoining Adirondack Forest Preserve. The Adirondacks, created in the late 1800’s due to growing concern at the rate of tree felling in the area, now cover an area of over six million acres.
The famous skiing area of Smugglers Notch was the next landmark on the map and the rugged landscape provided the Challenge competitors with some interesting obstacles as they headed for the end of the first stage up in the White Mountains, home of the Appalachian Trail.
Next up was South Africa, where the difference in temperature between chilly New Hampshire and sunny Cape Town was marked.  

Stage 2 - Sunday April 5, 2003 – Saturday April 12, 2003
Leaving behind the Big Apple, teams flew southeast to Cape Town – mother city of Africa. The familiar face of Table Mountain was the backdrop for an urban challenge, which culminated on the spectacular V&A Waterfront. From Cape Town the teams travelled eastwards through some of the finest vineyards in the world – but the competitors didn't have time to stop and sample the local produce.
On their way through the second stage the competitors visited the Little Karoo Desert and Cape Agulhas – the southernmost tip of Africa - before eventually finishing the stage in Knysna, the capital of the Garden Route. From George the Challenge made for Western Australia, and Karratha, for the start of Stage Three.

Stage 3 - Sunday, April 13 2003 – Sunday April 20, 2003
The remote and rugged Pilbara region, in the West of Australia, played host to the third stage of the Land Rover G4 Challenge. In stark contrast to the lush South African coastline, which competitors left behind when they departed for Australia, the Pilbara was unforgiving and harsh. It was a region that sorely tested both the competitors and the Range Rover vehicles that they drove during this stage.

The Pilbara covers more than 500,000 square kilometres and is the home to only 39,000 people. The region is well-known for its heritage assets, especially Aboriginal rock art, of which there are spectacular examples to be seen throughout the Pilbara. Often described as the engine room of the nation because of its immense reserves of natural resources, the Pilbara is also blessed with stunning natural beauty.

After the rigors of the Pilbara, the cosmopolitan city of Sydney, on Australia’s East Coast, offered welcome relief. However, a spectacular urban challenge was planned in the home of the famous Opera House. After the urban challenge in Sydney, competitors headed off to the USA for the final stage in the Land Rover G4 Challenge, which started near the City of Lights: Las Vegas.

Stage 4 - Monday April 21, 2003 – Saturday April 26, 2003
The Grand Canyon and Las Vegas – the locations that formed part of the fourth and final stage of the Land Rover G4 Challenge – legendary places that form awe-inspiring backdrops for the Challenge teams as they braved the West of the USA.

The competitors found themselves tackling the barren lands of the Moab desert in the Land Rover Discovery, as they completed the final miles in their incredible journey, and the quest to become the inaugural winner of the Land Rover G4 Challenge.

Fresh from a day off in Australia the competitors started the final stage near Las Vegas, made famous by Elvis impersonators and Sinatra’s Rat Pack, before following an easterly route through the Canyonlands to the adventure capital of the Wild West – Moab, Utah. This area is filled with spectacular vistas. Red sandstone canyons are joined by vast open areas. Despite the barrenness of the area, it is a colourful landscape of sedimentary sandstones eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes. Towering spires and striking natural rock arches line the route into America’s famous West.

The Challenge climaxed in a head-to-head decider in the desert near Moab, from which one competitor, representing one nation, emerged as the winner.