Land Rover at Overland Expo

This past weekend, Land Rover participated in the third annual Overland Expo held in Amado, Ariz., to both promote the 2011 Land Rover line up and provide off‑road driver training for all those in attendance, writes Bob Burns, Events Manager, Land Rover North America.

Overland Expo is a renowned international event that brings together people from around the world to educate and inspire them to get out and explore the world by bike or vehicle through various classes, workshops and roundtables. It's a wonderful informative weekend that we at Land Rover love to be a part of.

During the Expo, our team of past Camel Trophy competitors guided more than 300 students through an off‑road course, constructed by Land Rover, in their choice of a 2011 Range Rover, Range Rover Sport or LR4.

To guide all of our participants along the specially‑built overland course, we called on some of the "greats" in the off‑road world, including Tom Collins and Don Floyd of the 1987 team, Lea Magee and Fred Monsees, from 1990, Jim West from the 1992 team, Tim Hensley, winner of 1993's Camel Trophy, Jim Swett of 1995 and Ken Cameron from 1996's Camel Trophy. Rounding out our team was Sarah Batten from Eastnor Castle and the Land Rover Experience program, who was in attendance to assist with our off‑road course and also provide some one‑on‑one off‑road techniques to our participants.

While on the course, participants learned about proper speed for the terrain, how to negotiate side tilts, hill climbs, ditch crossings and how to maneuver through ruts safely and with the least impact to both the vehicle and the terrain. All of which is critical to know for any off‑road enthusiast.

The feedback from those who participated in our course was incredible as many gushed over how impressed they were with our Land Rover models and how much fun they had tackling the challenging off‑road course.

Throughout the weekend, over 4,000 where in attendance at the Expo to sit in on classes ranging from off‑road driving, vehicle recovery, vehicle preparation, camp outfitting, wilderness medicine, border crossing and off‑road motorcycle riding techniques and preparation.

A wonderful crowd, with a strong brand awareness and allegiance to Land Rover, turned out to explore the world of overlanding and went home with a plethora of new knowledge. The turn out for our off‑road course was so great that we're already starting to expand on ideas for next year. Hope to see you there!