We venture to Wales and strap ourselves in at the first round of the 2022 Defender Challenge
Plenty of eyebrows were raised back in 2019 when Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) inexplicably plucked Bowler from the jaws of bankruptcy.
But today, on this cold, chilly day in South Wales in the UK, it all makes perfect sense.
Ahead of me are lines of box-fresh 2022 Bowler Defender Challenge rally cars, and suddenly, whatever the British car-maker paid for Bowler seems like a bargain.
I could go over the considerable changes the Derbyshire-based British motorsport firm has made to the Land Rover Defender to transform it into a rally raid thoroughbred racer, but, right now, there’s no time.
I’m urgently needed by Bowler motorsport boss, Dave Marsh, to act as human ballast for a quick two-lap dash around the 12 tortuous kilometres of jaw-droppingly beautiful Welsh countryside.
Raising anxiety levels as I’m clamped into my six-point harness is the new knowledge that Bowler top brass have expressed concern that there’s a serious problem with its latest Defender-based rally car.
Curiously, it’s not with any electrical glitches, or grave mechanical woes. No, Bowler has already ironed most of those out in the previous months leading up to today.
Instead, the famed motorsport firm’s top brass is worried it’s made its latest Challenge racer too comfortable for those who will race it.
Broad breadth of experience doesn’t even begin to describe the 2022 entrants. Some drivers only received their competitive race licences a few days ago and those newbies are about to rub competitive shoulders with a WRC ace and rally raid racers who have competed at Dakar.
As Marsh holds the Defender on the brake, I begin to appreciate what the Bowler team are worried about.
Life in fast motion
Compared to other rally cars I’ve experienced, the Defender Challenge sounds polite and unassuming, the 2.0-litre Ingenium turbocharged four-cylinder idles smoothly, spins up rapidly and, even with a sports exhaust, is just as refined as it is in the road car.
As the marshal gives us the nod, the eight-speed auto and all-wheel drive valiantly deploys all of the 2.0-litre turbo’s 221kW and 400Nm of torque on the loose surface without fuss. But quick it isn’t, or at least that’s how it feels.
“You see this is what we’re worried about, it’s bloody quiet, you think you’re going slowly but you’re definitely not,” Marsh pipes in on a stretch of road that could mimic the Finnish WRC’s undulating gravel.
“You definitely don’t need more than 300hp here.”
Nudging almost 90mph (145km/h) on the dial it begins to dawn that, raised well above where you’d normally sit in a rally car, the Defender Challenge insulates you from much of the drama beneath. Worse still, the modified Land Rover has an impeccable ride.
I gasp for breath as Marsh stabs the brakes, spins the steering wheel left, lifts and then boots the throttle. The lurid slide is well-held and gathered up smoothly before we enter a car-width’s opening into the forest.
The lunar-like surface below looks impassable, not least since it’s covered with large boulders, fallen trees and incorporates nasty ridges, huge pot holes and large mounds of mud and hard rock.
Where you’d imagine a 40km/h or even 50km/h crawl, Marsh ploughs on at double that.
The sensation from the passenger seat is disorientating. Ahead, your brain identifies deep ridges and shards of slate, but their presence rarely translates into even the merest jolt within the cabin.
Then, suddenly, the magic carpet-like ride is shattered. The suspension runs out of travel (and ideas) and the following crash and huge vertical movement is vicious.
The noise and violence of the impact of the underbody armour grazing an obstacle is a horror show that needs to be witnessed to believed.
However brutal and deafening the impacts, Marsh flies nonetheless – literally, at one point, for about 10 metres. Sideways. At more than 110km/h.
An accomplished Dakar racer himself, Marsh is at home here. A mate of the late Bowler founder, Drew Bowler, who he regularly raced, the Cornish-born driver laughs out loud when I cower and describes potentially lethal sections of the course as “cheeky” (not terrifying) or “a bit naughty” (where I struggle not to close my eyes).
We return to the paddock relieved. I’m thankful we’re alive; Marsh is content that there’s plenty to provide the punters with a real sensation of speed.
Clambering over the cage feeling both battered and physically mauled from the experience, I declare to that not all of the Challenge Defenders would make it to the finish line. Marsh laughs, but strongly disagrees and tells me I’m being overly pessimistic.
Mere moments after I regain my composure, the customers begin to arrive in everything from V8-powered Defenders, Aston DBXs and a million-dollar motorhome. There’s even an S1 Land Rover, although it doesn’t count as the pristine 1950s classic sits perched on the back of a trailer.
One-make to rule them all
As you would expect from any one-make series, almost all are extremely successful (read very wealthy) business owners who have dabbled in racing or fast cars, or both.
But there are exceptions.
Cristina Dobloug and Anette Fjeld from Norway are the only (self-described) paupers in the mix. Co-driver Anette is actually a full-time student while Cristina, who works for a JLR dealer, is relying on both loans and sponsorship to cover the cost of both the £99,500 ($A178K) of the Defender Challenge and the further £15,000 ($A27K) needed to support the series. Cost of parts and repairs are apparently by separate negotiations.
While seat fitting and familiarisation is carried out with the 12 heavily modified Land Rover Defenders, there’s a gentle good-natured ribbing between opponents. Everyone we speak to, whatever experience, claim they’re confident of a podium finish – if not this weekend, in the near future.
With a short on-road driving route provided to help the racers acclimatise themselves to their new office, the engineers and mechanics on site all breathe a collective sigh of relief with the general positivity expressed by the customers.
Catching up with Bowler boss Calum McKechnie, it’s not long before you begin to realise the incredible work that has gone into the Defender Challenge in such a short space of time since the first well-used Defender prototype was dropped off at JLR’s new motorsport arm back in July 2020.
McKechnie, seconded from JLR’s SVO, is also clear from the off that Bowler isn’t simply a brand-builder for the British car-maker but is expected to channel meaningful profits back to its parent, with the Defender Challenge one of the Defender’s centrepieces.
“The demand has been incredible and we’re keen to expand as soon as we can to other markets, including to Australia as soon as next year (2023),” he says.
The key to the program has been keeping the Defender as close to standard specification as possible to ensure costs are as low as possible.
Top-tier Dakar trophy trucks cost more than $1 million to build and, even after spending that much, might not be competitive on their first outing, so the money involved with the Defender feeder series is relatively minimal.
As the drivers return, everyone complains that their car has suffered the same problem. Not one of the 2022 Defender Challenge racers can top 90mph. Raising plenty of eyebrows – the local limit was just 60mph – engineers soon explain to their over-eager drivers that the artificial limit is deliberate for safety reasons for today’s stage.
Back in the cars, the one-make Defender racers finally hit the track in perfect conditions. It’s five degrees Celsius, it’s sunny, there’s blue skies and behind the wheel you’re shielded from the icy blustery wind.
Following a slow procession lap behind an early 1990s Defender, the timed laps begin, with each Challenge car separated by a two-minute gap.
Pace notes are banned, with co-drivers expected to use circuit drawings for guidance – that most then heavily scribble on, reverting to quasi-notes.
On track, progress is slow, but steady.
Assault of the senses
Chatting to drivers after a few exploratory laps is revealing. “I thought it would be a rally road, but out there it’s more of an off-road assault course. It’s going to be much, much harder to set a good time,” said one racer, who’s previously competed in sports car racing in the US.
Even the pros were alarmed at the transition to off-road racing. Ex-Ford and Subaru WRC racer, Mark Higgins, is shocked that despite previously testing at this Walters Arena venue countless times over many years, he only recognises 100 yards of today’s course.
He also expresses bemusement at the level of actual off-roading required.
Not that his lack of familiarity dampens his pace; at the end of the day he’s P1 with a sizeable advantage.
During the day, just one car retires following a savage nose-landing that punctured the radiator. An impressive result.
It’s the next day where the real dramas occur. Higgins, the favourite, is forced to retire with mechanical issues. It then gets much worse and team Norway are the prime casualties as their barely run-in Defender barrel rolls off the track.
Cruelly, for the one pair who couldn’t afford to simply write a new cheque for a new chassis, the damage is substantial but, mercifully, both Norwegians emerge without even a scratch.
In the end, despite the dramas, the first round of the 2022 Defender Challenge is judged a huge success by both drivers and Bowler.
The racing was close, the cars durable and the memories engrained in everyone who took part.
Marsh, meanwhile, is plotting.
Even in the most basic state of tune he’s convinced the Defender Challenge car is quicker cross country than his own Bowler Wildcat.
Yes, you read right. The road car-based Landie is faster that an unhinged V8-powered spaceframe racer.
That means the British motorsport firm is only just scratching the surface of the new Defender’s rally raid potential.
And this suggests much faster variants could be in the pipeline that could one day see it have a decent crack at the Dakar Rally.
Keyword: Bowler Defender Challenge blasts off