Ok, its not ARCA, its not the Malaysian Rain Forest Challenge but it does bring out the factory boys and their toys.

Just got back from Lousa, Portugal where we competed in a 3 day event.

Was my first major event on the "continent" (I was co-driver) and had a blast. Can't wait for next year.

The first day was pretty fun but the night section was an eye opener...rally type speed driving thru the woods and mud...still got bruises on my chest from the branches hitting me through the half doors.

Unfortunately we had to pull out during the second day due to braking the winch housing, overheating all the time (too small a rad with oil coolers on it), and breaking the steering pin.

Posted up some reports and also over 300 pics at my site http://www.darksiderz.co.uk/home5.htm

looks like a lot of fun...

Man that looks fun!..hard work, but I'm sure some great stories come from it all.

That looks totally killer! Where can I find a rulebook?

Not too much in the way of rules. Basically they have a couple paragraphs on the vehicle...can't be over 3500kg, must be properly registed and insured, no prototypes, must have two people. All the rest goes into scoring and such. I'll try and get a scan in the next couple days of the 3 pages.

You guys should consider running the Croatia Trophy this year:

http://www.ak92.hr/engleski/indexen.htm

I did it last year and man was it a blast. Five day stages and one grand finale night stage. All the mud, rocks and river crossings you could ever ask for.

He who can keep his truck together wins or at least finishes. :D If you finish a race like this one it is a major accomplishiment in and of itself. Winning would just be the icing on the cake.

The top two teams from last year's Trophy are Croatia veterans driving turbo-d Toyotas and they somehow managed to keep them together all week. They did have to do a fair amount of wrenching in camp every night. The Mercedes G-wagens do extremely well since they are built like tanks and of course the Unimogs performed flawlessly. Many of the hybrid rigs with Unimog axles performe well too.

The Jeeps and Suzukis do well as long as they bring plenty of spare parts along. It's not uncommon to see either of these two types of vehicles getting new engines, transmissions and axles during the course of the race. I went to sleep every night durng the race with tools clanking and generators buzzing in the distance. The service guys for our team had only to clean and lube the trucks daily.

Even if you do have a really good truck, the navigation can kill you. Reading tulip charts and operating a rally computer are two very necessary skills for this type of race.

Would I do it again? Hell yeah!!! I'd be there next year in a heartbeat except that I've got a little one due at that time.

If anyone from N. America wants to go over to Europe to participate, don't hesitate to contact me and I'll be glad to help you organize things.

Some photos from last years Croatia Trophy:

http://www.teamunimog.com/pics/

Hopefully we'll one day have an event similar to this in the good 'ol USA.

EuroTruck

I am guessing that "prototype" is meaning buggy style stuff?

I have always wanted to build an FJ45 with a bobbed bed and portals...

That's kewl Eurotruck. 1200 euros for entry fee is a bit steep though considering that we haven't got a lot of sponsorship support yet.

We run the Portugal event and also one in Ireland as well as the ones here in the UK. Budget is pretty tight but hopefully we can change that next year as we have a large jeep dealership interested in sponsoring us. I'd like nothing else than to be able to go to these type of competitions as much as possible.

Our long term goal is to run the Malaysian Rain Forest Challenge. They have two comps a year here in the UK with the first place prize (if I am not mistaken) being transport for you and your vehicle to Malaysia.

That would be the ultimate buzz!

Originally posted by Mieser
That looks totally killer! Where can I find a rulebook?

http://www.darksiderz.co.uk/competitions/lousa02/rules.doc