What's the news?
Britain's Excite Rallye Raid Team is now in possession of the vehicle designed to take them to victory in this year's Paris Dakar: the Desert Warrior 3.
Exterior
"It looks the business!" Those are the words from driver and team Principal, John Hardy. Finished in satin black, the new machine looks practically identical to the concept. The body is based on the Range Rover Evoque, but sports serious modifications all over. Visible changes include a heavily revised roofline, under-body protection and a massively increased ride height. The standard car's stylish alloy wheels have also been replaced with somewhat more practical rims.
Interior
Inside, everything has been designed with the driver in mind. The dials are at eye-level, the switches are logically placed and there is plenty of room in order to reduce fatigue and stress. As you will expect there's a full FIA-spec roll cage, racing seats and safety harnesses; but Mike Jones of RaBe Race Cars - the company that produces the Desert Warrior 3 - insists that it's been built with some comfort in mind.
Mechanicals
Powering the new machine is an FIA T3-regulated 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel unit; weighing in at an impressively light 135kg and capable of producing 350hp in derestricted tune. The powerful engine is mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox. Keeping the car running is a massive 260-litre fuel tank, giving the team a 745-mile range - over 180 miles more than technically needed to complete the event.
Underneath is a bespoke chassis that has been tried and tested over three previous Dakar events. Handling and reliability were also high on the agenda when designing the Warrior 3; and the team has used Land Rover's off-road expertise in a majority of the car's components in order to achieve this.
Anything else?
The car has already gone through shakedown stages in Holland over the past couple of days; and with early indications and a confident word from Mark Jones, Excite Rallye Raid Team have a potential race-winning car.
James Giddings - 10 Nov 2012