Formula Off Road
Icelandic And World Championship
Hella September 22. 2007
The fourth and last round of the Icelandic Championship and the fifth round of the World Cup in Formula Off Road is at Hella in south Iceland. The competition starts as early as possible since the weather forecast looks ugly for the afternoon.
The Open Class
A total of 6 tracks that will be driven in each class. The first are up and down some steep sandbanks and the last two are timed courses with the river as the last one.
Leo Víđar Björnsson in Ironmaiden going down the first sandbank. This is probably more scary for the driver than how the viewers see it. The danger is in rolling over forward and the driver doesn't see what is in front.
Even though he finishes many tracks with a full house of points, Leo ends up in fifth place overall.
Bjarki Reynisson in the Animal in the Modified Street class gets second place in his class and 11th overall.
Daniel G. Ingimundarson in the Green Thunder.
Sigurđur Ţór Jónsson in the Troll does reasonably well in the first six tracks and is not far from the top. In the last timed track, the river, he breaks a steering drive belt and is unable to finish.
Eyjólfur Skúlason in the Leopard jumping through the end gate in one of the tracks...
...and giving the river a run over.
Geir Haug in Trollet.
Here Geir is getting prepared to tackle the river with a specially built "snorkel". Unfortunately he starts to slowly and drowns the engine.
Hans Mäki is driving Insane and does well until the fourth track.
Karl V. Jónsson in Frosty has problems in the first track and is not able to gain on the leaders.
Erlingur Klemenzson in the Raven has similar problems and could have done better in the timed tracks.
Same can be said about Gulli Helga in Magic Yellow, except he is unable to start the river track.
Gunnar Gunnarsson in the Clown. Gunnar gets a full house of points for the first four tracks.
In the 5th track, the first timed track, he is fourth...
...and he flies over the river with the winning time of 25:46 and wins the overall and Unlimited Class with ease. His time is almost 9 seconds faster than second place!
Ólafur B. Jónsson driving the Fox. Ólafur drives well and is the fastest in the first timed track...
...and the second fastest in the river track. He gets a well deserved second place.
Ragnar Róbertsson in his N1 Willys. He finishes way ahead of the other Modified Class vehicles.
Ingvar A. Arason is also competing in Ragnars Willys. He is trying out the truck so he drives only in the last three tracks.
Finn Erik Lřberg in his RaceRunner has a fairly good chance of winning the World Cup in the Unlimited Class. He gets the third place today even after not finishing the river timed track.
Sigurjón Leifsson driving the Punisher is doing fine until the 5th track where he has some breakdowns and is unable to start in the last track.
Vignir Vignisson is driving Ragnar's other Willys. It has just been rebuilt with an engine overhaul and axle work.
The Hella Rescue Unit is the organizer for the event. They have some impressive equipment to "play" with. The big Unimog is sporting tires with the size markings of 475/80 R30 witch equals 60 inches in diameter!
Benedikt Eiríksson driving Ha gets the most cheering from the audience. After this jump in the river track his rear axle breaks and falls off along with the wheel and tire!
Still he continues to finish the track on only three wheels!
Unfortunately he misses the second gate and only gets 25 points for the track.
Christian Austad in 2 Eloaded is also competing in the Modified Street Class and gets third place.
Sofia Schollin-Borg in her Affe has the engine break down after the first track and is unable to continue today. Hopefully she can get the right spare for tomorrow.
Street Legal Class
The street legal class is developing nicely.
Steingrímur Bjarnason on his 1964 Jeep CJ 5 has his front right tire fall off the rim two times during the competition.
The Street legal trucks drive similar but slightly easier tracks than the open class vehicles. Here is Steingrímur in the river and even though he gives it plenty of gas is unable to get it to float.
Hlynur B. Sigđurđsson uses his 6 cylinders well and gets second place.
Páll Pálsson in his Jeep CJ 5 the clear winner of the Street Legal Class.
Winners
Páll Pálsson winner in the street legal class on the left in the center with second place Hlynur B. Sigurđsson in the center and third place Steingrimur Bjarnason on the right.
Ragnar Róbertsson winner in the modified street class in the center with second place Bjarki Reynisson on the left and third place Christian Austad on the right.
Ragnar also secures the Icelandic national championship title in the Modified Street Class for the season.
Gunnar Gunnarsson winner in the unlimited class in on the left with second place Olafur Bragi Jonsson on the left and third place Finn Erik Lřberg on the right.
Gunnar also secures the Icelandic national championship title in the Unlimited Class for the season.
Overall
| 1. | Gunnar Gunnarsson | The Clown | 2088 |
| 2. | Ólafur Bragi Jónsson | The Fox | 1973 |
| 3. | Ragnar Róbertsson | N1 Willys | 1892 |
| 4. | Finn Erik Lřberg | RaceRunner | 1765 |
| 5. | Leó Viđar Björnsson | Ironmaiden | 1725 |
| 6. | Benedikt Eiríksson | Ha | 1724 |
| 7. | Sigurđur Ţór Jónsson | The Troll | 1684 |
| 8. | Erlingur Reyr Klemenzon | The Raven | 1611 |
| 9. | Karl V. Jónsson | Frosti | 1585 |
| 10. | Bjarki Reynisson | The Animal | 1564 |
| 11. | Guđlaugur S. Helgason | Magic Yellow | 1538 |
| 12. | Hans Mäki | Insane | 1464 |
| 13. | Sigurjón Leifsson | The Punisher | 1145 |
| 14. | Vignir R. Vignisson | N1 Willys | 1082 |
| 15. | Eyjólfur Skúlason | The Leopard | 985 |
| 16. | Daníel G. Ingimundarson | Green Thunder | 940 |
| 17. | Geir Haug | Trollet | 768 |
| 11. | Christian Austad | 2 Eloaded | 690 |
| 18. | Ingvar A. Arason | N1 Willys | 545 |
| 19. | Sofia Schollin-Borg | Affe | 230 |
| 20. | Benedikt Sigfússon | Rapper | 110 |
Modified Street Class
| 1. | Ragnar Róbertsson | N1 Willys | 1892 |
| 2. | Bjarki Reynisson | The Animal | 1564 |
| 3. | Christian Austad | 2 Eloaded | 690 |
| 4. | Ingvar A. Arason | N1 Willys | 545 |
| 5. | Sofia Schollin-Borg | Affe | 230 |
Unlimited Class
| 1. | Gunnar Gunnarsson | The Clown | 2088 |
| 2. | Ólafur Bragi Jónsson | The Fox | 1973 |
| 3. | Finn Erik Lřberg | RaceRunner | 1765 |
| 4. | Leó Viđar Björnsson | Ironmaiden | 1725 |
| 5. | Benedikt Eiríksson | Ha | 1724 |
| 6. | Sigurđur Ţór Jónsson | The Troll | 1684 |
| 7. | Erlingur Reyr Klemenzon | The Raven | 1611 |
| 8. | Karl V. Jónsson | Frosti | 1585 |
| 9. | Guđlaugur S. Helgason | Magic Yellow | 1538 |
| 10. | Hans Mäki | Insane | 1464 |
| 11. | Sigurjón Leifsson | The Punisher | 1145 |
| 12. | Vignir R. Vignisson | N1 Willys | 1082 |
| 13. | Eyjólfur Skúlason | The Leopard | 985 |
| 14. | Daníel G. Ingimundarson | Green Thunder | 940 |
| 15. | Geir Haug | Trollet | 768 |
| 16. | Benedikt Sigfússon | Rapper | 110 |
Street Legal Class
| 1. | Páll Pálsson | Willys CJ 5 - 1966 | |
| 3. | Hlynur B. Sigurđsson | Toyota Hilux - 1991 | |
| 2. | Steingrímur Bjarnason | Jeep CJ 5 - 1964 | |
Thanks to all the competitors and organizers!
