I’m not sure where to start with Formula Offroad. It was not only a new event for me, but a totally new discipline. I won’t bore you a lot – it was awesome, it was my highlight of the year. Hardcore nordic tattooed dudes take their driving skills to the limit, making 70° – 80° – 90° hill climbs a doddle with the little help of nitro.
Closest I can compare it too is drag racing: full throttle approach, special tyres, similar engine notes and “drag” as a keyword.
I remember this sport from childhood, remember watching Motors TV and seeing a bunch of crazy Icelanders drive up or roll down the hills. I can assure you, they are still top guys in the sport.
Actually it as strange feeling for me – seeing so many people from Iceland in one place that is not Iceland.
Hey Xzibit, Pimp My Cadillac please…
Not all cars had Americal V8 under the bonnet. This is basically a Honda Type R with offroad body, but the engine is turbocharged+nitro 2.2L with rear setup. Such compromise helps a lot with the visibility.
Wheels they use are a masterpiece actually, just looking at them is enough to understand the potential
Did I mention that they drive ON water as well? If they have enough speed and correct approach, they glide over water. Jesus stories are not that impressive anymore.
Marshals have their very own style as well, since they are the poor guys who need to run down the sand dunes in order to put back the cones or rescue a vehicle.
Yes, “run down”, nothing, except these Offroad Formulas can climb up the hills
Yes, you’re understanding correctly, the red-white plastic too the right is the checkpoint, down there, around 30m below is the start.
You, as a driver, can choose: either you just touch the checkpoint with one wheel or you actually go through the gate, which means that you need to climb higher – but, you get more points for doing that.
More old school drivers with more experience never went for easy bite.
But it didn’t always go as they planned
At the day I attended (last day), organisers told me that the courses (5 in total) were very hard, so only about 30% of crews could complete a course. Also it was a record for competitors: 33 cars.
This shot reminds me “Burning Man meets Mad Max”
Photographing from the top was definitely a winner, but I did try to be a spectator as well
Dust is also something to consider
If the things do go wrong, you should start counting the times you rolled
In the end it’s sand, serious injuries are very rare
That’s how you drive up a vertical hill!
Also I understood that making vertical shots at such event is a winner, but it’s not so great for mo blog, so I left them for the future
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