Baja Lorca, Spain in the Defender Rally Series, part of the EU Baja Championship

Experience the second year of the Defender Rally series with Vanessa Ruck in the EU Baja Championship racing a Bowler Defender 90 in Lorca Spain.

Welcome to the Lorca Baja in the 2024 Defender Rally Series as part of the EU Baja Championship. This is an intense single day race covering over 400km of beautiful Spanish terrain based out of Lorca, near Alicante in Spain. As a motorcycle rider I am used to long distances and time in the saddle, for example my recent triumph of becoming the first British female to finish the Africa Eco Race following the original Dakar route. However, this is my first endurance race in a car! The focus and concentration to keep going with 2.3 tonne’s of a vehicle and continual communication with your navigator was something I had no idea how I would handle. I know I have the mental resilience to fight on, especially since my accident but this was a new challenge.

This was high endurance, hard navigation and enormous concentration for over 6 hours travelling at high speeds and covering a considerable distance in the Bowler Defender rally car. It’s safe to say that this is the type of motorsports racing that I have been looking forward to and working towards! I crave the endurance and distance of these types of races.

As I continue racing in year two of the Bowler Driver Development Pathway in Big Boy my 2.3 tonne Defender 90 the challenges continue to increase and my skills continue to improve, with 75 vehicles off the start line, I managed to come in at an impressive 33rd position, I am quite chuffed with the results of my first ever Baja experience in a 4 wheeled vehicle.

You can see the full race behind the scenes here:

MY EU Baja Championship Lorca Bowler Defender RESULTS

Shocking performance!!! My first ever long endurance event with four wheels seeing us tackling over 400km and I managed 33rd of 75!! Like what!!

Even more impressive was being just 18 minutes behind the first place Bowler Defender rally car that was driven by a professional team and only 6 minutes off 3rd place driven by a multi time Dakar rally Finisher… that’s just minutes across the 6hr+ time racing.

Considering a little over a year ago I put my bottom in a rally car for the first time, it’s incredible the progress the Bowler Motors driver programme has given me. Read about my journey into motorsports here .

2024 EU Baja Championship with Defender

As part of the Bowler customer experience and driver development programme they are offering a multiyear programme. The ultimate goal is to get you to the desert, going from total newbie to confident, ready and equipped for success. Having finished year one which saw me earning my national race license, a critical part in the journey, I’m racing the EU Baja Championship in my Defender.

Next round is in one of the most beautiful, stunning and varied terrains possible and one of my favorite countries to ride motorcycles in – Iceland .

With four rounds in the 2024 Defender series it’s going to be another jump in my motorsports career. New terrain, new challenges and much bigger distances.

The full series information can be found here: https://www.bowlermotors.com/defender-rally-series/

If you’re interested in coming to race, check out the Bowler website below
https://www.bowlermotors.com/defender-rally-series/

If you want to know more about Big Boy, the 2.3 tonne beast follow the link below
https://www.bowlermotors.com/defender-rally-series/defender-rally-car/

You can read the full story of how I got into motorsports here:
https://thegirlonabike.com/about-me-the-girl-on-a-bike/how-i-got-into-motorsports-with-bowler-defender/

If you’re new to my page – it’s more than just dirt bike riding and racing, I’m on a mission to prove that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough. See more about my story plus read about my life changing accident, which started it all.

You can find me Vanessa, The Girl On A Bike over on Threads, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok and YouTube, and www.thegirlonabike.com.