Terry Vallance from Far North Queensland wins Australia’s Global Ford Ranger Challenge
Terry Vallance is the pride of Far North Queensland today after winning one of the toughest truck challenges in Australia – the Global Ford Ranger Challenge. He will be at the Hiland Ford Dealership in Atherton on Friday October 14th from 11am to receive his new Ford Ranger.
Vallance, a fishing ecologist by trade, won his very own all-new Ford Ranger 4×4 after finishing ahead of challengers from South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.
As a part of the competition, each challenger tested the truck’s ability to drive in some of the country’s harshest and most remote locations, from the ski fields of Falls Creek and the World Heritage-listed Dirk Hartog Island, through to the beaches on the South Australian and Victorian border.
Accompanied by a professional film crew, each challenge was then filmed and uploaded to the Global Ford Ranger Challenge website, where the Australian public had one month to vote for their favourite video.
Vallance’s winning challenge saw him test the Ranger’s towing capacity around the remote rivers of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Clocking up over 1,000km of driving, he took the Ranger on a cattle station track to Barramundi Lagoon, where he conducted a full fishing survey.
Despite being told by the landowner that he wouldn’t make it, and that no one had made the river crossing for more than two years, Vallance and the Ranger were unmoved. Thanks to the Ranger’s superior torque, and its towing capacity, the truck made it through the river and safely to the lagoon.
With nearly half of all votes (49%), Vallance’s challenge captured the public’s imagination, and he became a clear winner today. The support he received from the local community played a big part in his win.
Says Vallance: “I’m blown away. As a fish biologist operating in remote Australia, I need a truck that gets me to some incredibly isolated spots without a hitch, and with a boat in tow. If it can’t withstand the toughest elements, then I can’t do my job. It’s pretty simple, really.
I was sceptical that the Ranger would get to the lagoon, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only did it get there without getting stuck, more importantly it got me back home as well. After a quick scrub it was ready for the family duties again. It is a great vehicle.”
Earlier this year, more than 1,300 Australians entered the Global Ford Ranger Challenge by detailing what they believed was the ultimate test of the truck’s abilities. From this group, five finalists were selected to conduct their challenge, making them among the first in the world to drive and test the soon-to-be-released all-new Ranger.
Says Ford Australia’s general marketing manager David Katic: “Terry is a deserving winner of the all-new Ford Ranger”, “Our aim for the Global Ford Ranger Challenge was to put the Ranger in the hands of everyday customers and see it being pushed to the absolute limit, no holds barred. Terry certainly did that.”
Following the Australian leg of this competition, the Global Ford Challenge will continue a global roll-out through Thailand and South Africa before moving to Europe and South America.
Other finalist challenges:
1. Caleb the Chippy (SA)
Challenge: Caleb sought to prove the all-new Ranger’s “Built Ford Tough” claim by putting it through a punishing, non-stop 40-hour endurance test.
2. The Car Crusher (VIC)
Challenge: The “car crusher” tested the all-new Ranger to its limits during the daily grind of running his pig farm.
3. Action John (WA)
Challenge: Action John tested if the all-new Ford Ranger could survive the bruising daily punishment of working in his freight company, located in north-west Western Australia.
4. Skier Steve (VIC)
Challenge: Skier Steve tested if the all-new Ford Ranger could survive the hard work his Falls Creek’s company dished out during Victoria’s icy snow season.