Defender Rally Series and Tata Elxsi extend their partnership into the 2024 season

For the third season in succession, Defender Rally Series and Tata Elxsi continue their partnership, strengthening a relationship that began with the inaugural championship in 2022.

The 2024 Defender Rally Series is the biggest yet, with the UK Championship and European Baja Championship building on the successful 2022 and 2023 campaigns.

The series includes seven challenging events across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, with each round hosting up to 16 competitors. This year, several teams from the 2023 UK Championship have advanced to the European Baja Championship, which consists of four rounds taking place in the UK, France, Spain, and Iceland.

With vehicles competing across some of the toughest rally stages the UK and Europe have to offer, the Defender 90 is built to tackle everything a rally event can throw at it, with all mechanical enhancements, rally support, competition entries and vehicle logistics taken care of by an expert team from Bowler*.

Global design and technology service provider Tata Elxsi – dedicated to pushing the boundaries of automotive design and technology – will support all UK and international rounds in 2024, having assisted with the development of the rally-prepared Defender 90 more than four years ago.

A high-performance environment with constant demands on teams and support crews defines the Tata Elxsi core principle, ‘Xtreme Engineering’. Defender Rally Series is the ideal partner for Tata Elxsi’s products and services in the modern automotive industry.

James Barclay, Managing Director JLR Motorsport, said, “The Defender Rally Series is now well established, the 2024 season seeing the largest number of competitors to date, and the support of Tata Elxsi from the outset has been integral in making this possible. The Defender Rally Series is not only showcasing the capability of Defender in a motorsport application but is allowing our customers to enjoy it in a competitive environment. The renewal of our partnership with Tata Elxsi can only further enhance the Series’ potential for the future.”

Calum McKechnie, General Manager, Bowler Motors, said, “Tata Elxsi has played a crucial role in developing the entire Defender Rally Series so it’s fitting to announce it will continue its support throughout this season, as it is proving to be our biggest and most competitive year so far. Each specially prepared Defender 90 is ready for competitive action and our championship goes from strength to strength, helping to develop crews to take on the most demanding off-road events.”

With technical support afforded to all entering the Series, Tata Elxsi logos will adorn every Defender 90 competing in the 2024 season.

Ganesh Kumar, General Manager & JLR Account Director, Tata Elxsi, said, “The Defender Rally Series and Tata Elxsi share a common foundation of Xtreme engineering, thriving in challenging environments, fostering high-performing teams, and utilising next-gen technologies to revolutionise the modern automotive industry. Together, we are not just designing vehicles; we are crafting experiences that resonate with the passion and spirit of adventure inherent in every off-road enthusiast. Our journey with the Defender Rally Series has been a testament to our expertise in bringing robust, cutting-edge solutions to the most challenging terrains, and we look forward to another year of shared success and Xtreme engineering.”

With the first three rounds of both Championships complete, the coming months will see the Defender Rally Series and Tata Elxsi collaborate to ensure drivers, co-drivers, team members and engineers experience a thoroughly enjoyable and competitive year.

About JLR

JLR’s Reimagine strategy is delivering a sustainability-rich vision of modern luxury by design.

We are transforming our business to become carbon net zero across our supply chain, products, and operations by 2039. We have set a roadmap to reduce emissions across our own operations and value chains by 2030 through approved, science-based targets. Electrification is central to this strategy and before the end of the decade our Range Rover, Discovery, Defender collections will each have a pure electric model, while Jaguar will be entirely electric.

At heart, we are a British company with two design and engineering sites, three vehicle manufacturing facilities, an engine manufacturing centre, and a battery assembly centre in the UK. We also have vehicle plants in China, Brazil, India, Austria, and Slovakia, as well as seven technology hubs across the globe.  

JLR is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Limited, part of Tata Sons.

About Tata Elxsi  

Tata Elxsi is a global design and technology services company across industries including Automotive, Media, Communications, Healthcare and Transportation. Tata Elxsi works with leading OEMs and suppliers in the automotive and transportation industries for R&D, design, and product engineering services from architecture to launch and beyond. It brings together domain experience across artificial intelligence, autonomous, electric, connected vehicle technologies, Software-defined vehicles (SDV) and is supported by a worldwide network of design studios, development centres and offices as well as a global pool of over 13,000 engineers and specialists.

About Defender

Defender embraces the impossible. Each member of the Defender family is purposefully designed, highly desirable and seriously durable. A modern-day hero that respects the past but at the same time anticipates the future.

Available in 90, 110 and 130 body styles, with up to eight seats, each has a charisma of its own. As part of a sustainability-rich vision of modern luxury by design, Defender 110 is available as an electric hybrid. Defender Hard Top means business, with 90 and 110 body styles for professional capability.

A beacon of liberty since 1948, Defender supports humanitarian and conservation work with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Tusk Trust.

The Defender brand is underpinned by Land Rover – a mark of trust built on 75 years of expertise in technology and world-leading off-road capability.

Defender is designed and engineered in the UK and sold in 121 countries. It belongs to the JLR house of brands alongside Range Rover, Discovery and Jaguar.

*About Bowler

Bowler was acquired by Jaguar Land Rover in December 2019 and forms a subsidiary division of JLR. It has been granted use of the Defender name under licence from JLR.

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