The first two contestants have been eliminated from Ranger Odyssey 2015 following four days of intense action in the extremely remote and rugged Damaraland and Kaokoland regions of Northern Namibia.
For Johan Henn and Xoliswa Nontanda the Odyssey journey has come to an end. While both contestants give it their all, they emerged as the lowest-scoring competitors over the first four days of the event.
Each day the contestants are scored on their off-road driving abilities, leadership and team work, technical challenges, as well as their knowledge regarding the vehicles, locations and other aspects discussed during the trip.
For last night’s elimination, each of the 20 contestants also voted for the two people they would like to send home, and this was factored into the final scores.
Xoliswa Nontanda was the first to be eliminated from the running. The 32-year-old quantity surveyor from Durban was judged to have not met the minimum requirements to proceed with the event.
Johann Henn a 32-year-old farmer from Barberton was the next to be voted off. Henn said: “It came as a bit of a surprise to me to be voted off at this round. I thought I had done my bit to get on with my team-mates, but that’s how the cookie crumbles.
The remaining 18 contestants continue their adventure, completing a Garmin GPS navigation task today in Purros, and then the convoy departs tomorrow for Palmwag followed by the aptly named Desolation Valley.
The next elimination round will be announced in 31 July, which will see four contestants leaving Ranger Odyssey 2015.
The www.rangerodyssey.com website features a leader board that is updated daily for fans to follow the progress. However, the rankings for the highest-placed contestants will remain hidden and placed randomly on the chart, adding a further element of intrigue to the competition.
The winner of Ranger Odyssey 2015 will ultimately be revealed at a Ford event in Sandton on 11 August.
The 20 Contestants
Name | Country | City | Age | Status |
Xoliswa Nontanda | South Africa | Durban | 32 | Eliminated |
Johan Henn | South Africa | Barberton | 32 | Eliminated |
Deborah Almeida | Angola | Luanda | 29 | |
Ismail Diara | Ivory Coast | Abidjan | 41 | |
Morou Taoua | Ivory Coast | Abidjan | 40 | |
Dino Ribeiro | Mozambique | Maputo | 33 | |
Giftson Onuiri | Nigeria | Lagos | 31 | |
Moyosore Fawole | Nigeria | Lagos | 31 | |
Amogelang Senokwane | South Africa | Johannesburg | 28 | |
Charlton Botha | South Africa | Cape Town | 31 | |
Gavin Jones | South Africa | Johannesburg | 30 | |
Ginette Chubb | South Africa | Pietermaritzburg | 37 | |
Helena Higgins | South Africa | Cape Town | 42 | |
Israel Skosana | South Africa | Sandton | 33 | |
Jacobus Muller | South Africa | Pretoria | 28 | |
Liane Van Dyk | South Africa | Pretoria | 23 | |
Melani Kruger | South Africa | Vanderbijlpark | 25 | |
Mohammed Omarjee | South Africa | Durban | 29 | |
Monica Nkosna | South Africa | Pretoria | 34 | |
Simon Siaga | South Africa | Magaliesberg | 31 |
For further information on the Ranger Odyssey go to www.rangerodyssey.com and follow @FordSouthAfrica on Twitter using the #RangerOdyssey hashtag. You can also like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FordSouthAfrica).