The Empty Quarter
Land Rover has produced an exclusive new documentary charting the new Range Rover Sport’s challenge to complete the fastest recorded crossing of the Empty Quarter desert, which it achieved last month.
Tracking the team’s 849km journey from Wadi Adda Wasir in Saudi Arabia to the border of the United Arab Emirates. The team completed the challenge on November 3rd 2013, finishing in 10 hours and 22 minutes at an average speed of 51.87 mph (81.87 km/h), and the documentary charts the journey from beginning to end.
The short film features spectacular footage from inside and outside the vehicle, as well as epic shots of the barren environment that the team faced as they tackled the largest sand desert in the world. Viewers will see the new Range Rover Sport pummel the desert flats at full speed, tip toe down the steepest sand dunes and navigate the myriad of obstacles that the desert threw up – including rogue camels appearing from nowhere. Sand storms, immense heat and punishing jumps are just some of the challenges that pushed man and machine to the limit.
Behind-the-scenes footage shows the man behind the drive – 47 year-old Spanish off-road racer Moi Torrallardona – and charts the physical and mental endurance that led to his success. Torrallardona said: “The Empty Quarter was an incredible challenge and one that will live with me for the rest of my life. The Range Rover Sport was the ideal tool for conquering the desert and it is great to be able to relive the challenge through this short documentary. The Empty Quarter provided a unique test for a standard production vehicle and thanks to the ability of the Range Rover Sport we came out victorious.”
The challenge was completed in a standard production new Range Rover Sport with a 510PS 5.0-litre supercharged V8 petrol engine, running standard tyres. The only modification to the vehicle was the fitment of an underbody protection plate. This vehicle was displayed at the Dubai Motor Show on the 5th November, just two days after completing the desert crossing.
The class-leading, genuine Land Rover all-terrain capability, breakthrough lightweight suspension design and innovative dynamic chassis technologies all helped the new Range Rover Sport conquer one of its toughest challenges yet.
The challenge is the second that the new Range Rover Sport has completed in recent months, following its record hill climb for a production SUV at Pikes Peak back in June, the short documentary of which can be viewed here
These feats are part of a series of global driving challenges in which the Range Rover Sport is pushed to new limits.
Read More Land-Rover News and Reviews at Drive.co.uk/LAND-ROVER
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