O
kezuo Virtues Chinonso, an Onitsha-based businessman has emerged eventual winner of the Ford Ranger Odyssey ‘brain and brawn’, energy sapping off-roader driving competition organised last weekend in Lekki by Coscharis Motors.
What is the Ranger Odyssey? It’s not a race nor is it a rally. Odyssey is an extremely tough adventurous expedition that brings out the ‘Built Ford Tough’ quality in Ranger to challenge nature, even in its harshest conditions.
It conveys to the front burner, such elements of competition where participating teams could test their 4×4 driving and mechanical skills, endurance, courage, stamina, perseverance and resilience against the worst that nature could offer.
The daylong event was put together among other things to test the technical skill and driving competence of the drivers that participated and essentially also to ascertain the endurance level and ruggedness of the Ford Ranger. This is in tandem with the global strategy of Ford Motors Corporation of putting into practical test some of the salient features of the Pick-up truck when off-road.
The winner will embark on an all expense paid trip to Namibia where he be flying Nigeria’s flag at the 2014 international Ranger Odyssey competition with winners from other countries.
It would be recalled that last year, Ford hosted the very successful Ranger Odyssey which is a cross-African 4×4 adventure that saw 10 South Africans from all walks of life tackle some of our continent’s most gruelling terrain.
In the words of Josiah Samuel, group managing director in a statement delivered by Abiona Babarinde, general manager, corporate services and strategy, Coscharis Group, the main emphasis of Odyssey is focusing more toward testing human endurance and adaptability combined with the fierce ruggedness that comes with the Ford Ranger brand.
Building on the huge success of the 2013 Odyssey, the group managing director stated that this year’s event will yet again be a unique and exciting African 4×4 challenge that seeks to conquer some of Africa’s toughest terrains. Twenty contestants will need to prove themselves through a two-week long expedition that kicks off in Namibia on September 8, 2014.
The campaign received excellent media coverage and has increased awareness and established Ford in the 4×4 leisure market as well as appealed to a wider demographic while displaying the Ranger’s Built
Ford tough off-road capability.
Odyssey is a brand that will appeal to the authentic, adventurous, outgoing, free-spirited, as well as the hard-working, the professional and the bold and adaptable. Unlike last year when the Odyssey travelled through six African countries, the 2014 event will take place in one of the wildest and least populated areas in Namibia, the Kaokoland, in the far Northern Kunene region.
The conditions in Kaokoland are harsh and will present the ultimate test to both the tough-build Ford Ranger and the patience and endurance of each contestant. The roughly 2500km route encompasses some of Namibia’s most spectacular and arduous terrains, including the notorious Van Zyl’s Pass and the famous Purros Loop renowned for its desert elephants.
What is even more exciting about the 2014 Odyssey is that for the first there be a total of three contestants from three Sub-Sahara African (SSA) markets in addition to the 17 contestants from South Africa.
Nigeria is one of the three chosen markets to participate, and Coscharis Motors Limited as official Ford dealer with the last Saturday event has help determine the eventual winner.
MIKE OCHONMA