Christmas Humanitarian Trial Run

I found that December brings the most interesting things of all the months. This year it brought interesting and unexpected activities in the off road scene of Romania. An unprecedented fund raising event took place on the outskirts of the capital city of Bucharest, involving a Christmas Off Road Trial aimed at collecting money for needy families around the county.

The whole idea of “The Rags” off road group was that, for a small sum of €40, the pilot and copilot would get to choose out of two tracks (Standard and Open Classes) and race around it, competing for the title. The teams would also get stickers, official shirts, numbers, medical assistance in case of an accident and a great buffet with traditional Christmas food.

We decided we were going to tag along in our Land Rover110 SW but were still unsure about whether we would participate or not. The morning came and, around 7 a.m., cars started showing up on the field next to the trial grounds. Everybody was allowed to do the track on foot and get a feel of how it would be to do it in a truck. Some people over estimated the ability of their cars and changed from Open to Standard and the other way around.

Everybody was encouraged to sign up and prepare their trucks and, by 9 o’clock, 103 off road cars of all shapes, sizes and degree of modification were present, fired up and anxiously waiting for the starting whistle. As the sign-up session continued, we figured it’ll be far more interesting to stay on the side admiring and photographing the cars taking part in the competition.

The Open class was a rather short 5 minute track which challenged the competitors by presenting steep side slopes, mud holes and hair pin turns, seasoned with ascents and descents at various angles, from easy to “Oh my God we’re not going to make it”.

Since most of the competitors were part of the same off road forum (www.forum.club4x4.ro which also has an international section where the official language is English), everyone knew each other and the overall atmosphere was a very good one, with participants joking and helping out one another when the going got tough.

Even though the organizers designed the track to fit within the difficulty of the Open class, every now and again someone would have a bit of trouble at one point or another. Mostly, and this is something to remember regardless of the tracks, the longer the car, the more difficult it’ll be to turn and control it in tight areas.

As we’ve noticed throughout the day, the cars that encountered these problems were long wheel base Mitsubishi Pajeros, Toyota Land Cruiser 80s and the four door version of the Nissan Patrols. Short cars, such as the Land Cruiser 70s or the Suzuki Samurais ruled the day, passing without much hassle through deep potholes and tight turns. Nevertheless, drive shafts were broken, bodywork bent around the edges and, unexpectedly, even a number of cars that managed to roll to one side. It was all a matter of knowing how to make the best of the time there.

Even though the outside temperatures were well below zero and the freezing wind just made matters worse, the sunny day that was picked for the trial to take place managed to get off road lovers out of their houses – if not for participating, at least for admiring the view and observing the trial from the side.

At the end of the day, everyone enjoyed the traditional dinner that was cooked literally on the spot, discussed the outcomes and damages of the day, what needed to be different and started mapping out the routes for the upcoming humanitarian action.

 
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