New Range Rover Sport to challenge Empty Quarter desert crossing

Like Range Rover hybrids 2013 Silk Trail, Land Rover will again attempt to cross one of most difficult terrains of the world with its all-new Range Rover Sport. The company will attempt to set the fastest recorded time for a land vehicle crossing of the 'Empty Quarter', which is one of the harshest and most challenging desert environments on the planet.

The company is doing its final preparations before starting its this challenging drive, which will start from the Wadi Adda Wasir, Saudi Arabia. The route will run from there towards the finish line on the border of the United Arab Emirates, a distance of over 1000km – further than the length of France. The driver will be Moi Torrallardona, a 47 year-old Spanish off-road racer with extensive experience of the Dakar Rally, in which he competed for ten successive years with a best finish of 6th overall.

A dangerously barren climate with no reliable water sources and an ever-shifting terrain, the Empty Quarter in the Arabian Peninsula is one of the most silppery terrains man and machine could face. The driving conditions will be incredibly harsh, with temperatures of over 50 degrees C in the day and towering sand dunes stretching 850ft into the air.

The New Range Rover Sport will be production-spec, challenging a terrain where usually only specialist sand vehicles are found. Moi will be exercising its breadth of capability to the limit in the process.