For 2024, Assetti are proud to compete in the Defender Rally Series with Bowler Motors & Land Rover. This exciting series is in it’s fourth year and is growing at a fast pace thanks to JLR acquiring Bowler in 2019.

The series is built around the Defender L663 platform where Bowler take road cars off the production line and carry out a host of upgrades & modifications to get the vehicles fit for rally. This includes monocoque bracing, full FIA internal roll cage, stiffened and strengthen engine & gearbox mounts and bespoke suspension design with Fox dampeners. The engine & gearbox remains untouched which goes to show the power and reliability that the road car has.

For the 2024 season, Assetti have two of these purpose built rally Defenders driven by Shane Lynch & Paul McCallum. With racing taking place across 7 rounds in the UK. The championship offers great progression with European options available in your second year of racing, taking participants to the likes of the Iceland Hill Rally. The series joins a host of the most popular UK Rally events including the Nicky Grist Stages in Builth Wells. With capability to have a starting grid of 20 Defenders, there’s going to be some real action this year.

After customising our two Defenders with paint protection film, to preserve the paint for a hard year of rallying and a custom livery for each, we headed down to Swansea for Round 1 of the Defender Rally Series at Walters Arena. This first event was unique in the fact the entire event was setup with That’s Motorsport and Bowler to give new competitors 4 days of learning, testing and competition before being thrown into the fast pace events yet to come on the calendar.

The series has a very unique option of a turn key, arrive & drive setup. A team of JLR & Bowler technicians run the entire service of the vehicle from start to finish, from spanner checks between each stage to full blown repairs should there be any mishaps. The experience and professionalism shown by the service team was exemplery. They were constantly on hand checking over the cars after each outing, making sure the drivers were happy and due to the rough conditions at Walters Arena, changing punctured tyres round the clock.

With a very thorough safety briefing out the way it was our first chance to drive the cars in anger on a Safari Rally course around Walters. This short 3 mile loop was a great taste of what was to come for the competition day on Sunday. Unfortunately the weather on day 1 was very wet, muddy with a flurry of snow, hail and even thunder. None of this presented any difficulty for the rugged Defenders which sailed through the mud ruts, over the boulders and down the fast twisty forest sections. The firsts impressions of the car took us by surprise. The sheer capability of the Defender across the terrain was almost mind boggling. It was happy in all environments and absolutely nothing could phase it.

An initial day of testing allowed both of our drivers to familiarise themselves with the handling and setup of the vehicle and by the end they were at home in their cars.

Day 2 & 3 featured more shakedown testing across 2 courses of varying distance, again the weather was changing every hour which had the added difficulty of learning to drive in all kinds of conditions. With absolutely no mechanical issues across the first 3 days spirits were high and the pace was being increased across all the competitors as they got more and more familiar with the venue and the cars.

Day 4 was competition day where the real work started. A timed loop of a 7 mile course across Walters Arena which featured mud sections, tight gravel tracks through the forest, hairpins & more. With 8 timed runs to complete during the day it was go go go. The finishing order would be decided on the total run time, with the quickest driver being rewarded with P1. As the old saying goes, to finish first, first you must finish. Competitors were pushing the cars hard, which inevitably meant punctures, breakdowns and even moments off the track. None of this phased the technicians who were always on hand to repair or mend any car that rolled into service.

As the day went on the conditions changed yet again, the once muddy track was now drying up giving a false confidence as you plough in 5th gear through the forest only to be greeted with a bog of mud sitting shaded. We were lucky enough to only pick up a puncture on each car towards the end of the stage, which meant a limp into the service area for a wheel change and then straight back out. Some less fortunate competitors were picking up punctures just a mile into the stage and having to write off their run to change it and return to service.

Both of our Drivers were lapping consistently across the day with the times getting faster and faster as they became more familiar with the track. Helped by their Co-Drivers to spot any particularly difficult sections, they powered through all 8 competitive runs to bring both cars back in one piece.

An absolutely fantastic introduction into the world of rallying for Assetti. With an exciting season ahead we are thrilled to be a part of the Defender Rally Series for 2024 and we look forward to the next 6 rounds.