Ranger Odyssey winner crowned

A woman offroader has won the gruelling Ranger Odyssey which was staged over 12 days through the most remote regions of the Kunene and Erongo regions.

Earlier this week, at a glamorous function in Johannesburg, 23-year old Liane van Dyk from Pretoria, was announced the Odyssey winner beating 19 other contestants, most of them male.
Van Dyk came out tops following 12 days of evaluation and competition while travelling 2000km through the remote Damaraland and Kaokoland.. The announcement was made at the gala dinner for Ford’s Go Further event in Sandton on Monday evening.
The 23-year-old computer programmer and part-time DJ beat 19 other contestants to the title, including 13 from South Africa, two each from Nigeria and Ivory Coast, and one each from Angola and Mozambique.
“We had a fantastic group of dynamic and very competitive contestants in this year’s Ranger Odyssey, and it was great to have five African countries represented this year,” says Tracey Delate, General Marketing Manager, Ford Motor Company of Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Liane was among the front-runners throughout the event, and showed consistently high scores in all of the aspects, from driving right through to the general knowledge tests. Her energy and enthusiasm also shone through, making her one of the clear favourites, and we are delighted to see her win the 2015 title,” Delate adds.
Along with being crowned the winner of Ranger Odyssey 2015, Van Dyk also wins an Odyssey-spec Ranger for a year, plus R5 000 fuel per month to continue exploring the rich culture and beauty of the African continent – all behind the wheel of the accomplished ‘Built Ford Tough’ Ranger which proved its outstanding capabilities in some of Africa’s most arduous terrain.
Van Dyk, who describes herself as an adventure junkie that’s built for the outdoors and off-roading, began her life-changing Ranger Odyssey adventure with the Boot Camp in the small Karoo town of Prince Albert during June, where she emerged as one of the Top 20 contestants selected from the initial group of 40 chosen from the thousands of online entries received for this year’s event.