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“Night of the Characters”, Part Six: In Hanover, ramp photographer and chief reporter Matthias Mederer spoke about the Defender OCTA to an all-male audience at the invitation of the local Defender dealer, Auto Nagel. Among other things, he explained how he came up with the ramp headline “They’re flying again” whilst in the desert dust of Morocco, and why the idea behind the name OCTA can certainly also be viewed in the light of the concept of antifragility, as proposed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

Night of Characters, last part: Once again, ramp editor-in-chief Michael Köckritz spoke about the Defender OCTA in front of an all-male audience at the invitation of Schwabengarage in Stuttgart's AMICI restaurant. That the top model from Land Rover is a confident statement? We know that. But what makes it a character actor? Find out here.

When we talk about the "right measure" when driving today, we inevitably end up with the Defender OCTA. Why? Because it breaks this mould with a running start. A philosophically fuelled night drive on the occasion of the "Night of Characters" in Hamburg.

A Defender with as much power as the OCTA raises an eyebrow. And rightly so. It was built precisely for this purpose.

With the 2026 Dakar Rally, Bell & Ross is entering the World Rally-Raid Championship as the official timing partner of Defender Rally. The perfect environment to put the precision, endurance and performance of the functional watches to the test.

No one had really doubted it, of course. Still, the Defender wants to prove itself once and for all – at the toughest off-road race in the world: the 2026 Dakar Rally. The best part of it all? We were there for the test drives in Morocco. And how!