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This is the single-news section of the
marathonrally.com rally-live special of the Rainforest Challenge 2006. To navigate please use the upper or right Navigation Bar.
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Rainforest Challenge: The RFC lives by its own rules.
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Marathonrally.com reports for the first time directly from the Rainforest Challenge in Malaysia - and from what we heard the statements and opinions were quite numerous. So finally we took the opportunity to get some first hand experience and to report about the event. Instead of long trophy passages (such as in the Transsylvania Trophy) or a mix of rally and trophy (as in the Berlin Breslau) the RFC lives on completely own rules.
A central part of the RFC are during the first days are long transfer stages between the camps that are driven on old jungle paths. On the so called transport stages the participants totally have to rely on their own.
Instead of checkpoints there is a special card for each participant. These cards have to be punched by special tools that are tied to certain points on the route to prove that you have passed that part of the track. Afterwards the cards are collected and checked by the organizátion to determine who went on the right route.
The transport stages very between "extremely difficult" and "normally drivable". However in Malaysia "normal" already means totally washed out tracks and numerous river passages. "Difficult" usually equals to long winching passages over several hundred meters over even kilometers up some old logging trails up a hill that will last hours just to advance your 4 wheels for some kilometers.
Between the transport stage there are several "special stages" in which over several hundred meters several extra tough challenges have to be tackeled. These are for instance steep hills, rocky river crossings or mud passages. The special thing here: Your final result for a special stage is not measured in time but inpoints. The person who finishes a stage first gets 100 point the second slightly less and so on. All teams starting who do not reach the end of the stage in the determined maximum amount of time well at least get 20 points for starting. In addition several penalty points are deducted for e.g. breaking barriers or touching of a steel cable under tension
With the second half of the Rainforest Challenge now the tough parts starts. Here no longer long transport passage have to driven - now the so called Twilight Zone needs to be conquered.
The whole Twilight Zone is an area that at the best can be crossed in two or three days (if it is not raining...) and that reminds to the legendary Camel Trophy. Here the challenge is to go through the jungle on a given rough direction. Sometimes heavy vegatation needs to be cleared with knives or motor saws and bridges need to be created to cross rivers. The Twilight Zone is one of the highlights of the Rainforest Challenge and will usually cause the most car failures. For the participants and even for the normal press the Twilight Zone has been declared as a no-go area. Be sure that we will provide you with the most spectacular pictures from this area.
The Twilight Zone is also the ending of the sportive part of the Rainforest Challenge. After a final camp site the rally convoi drives back to a hotel where the final ceremony will be held.
2006/11/29 | 16:15 CET | Editor: RFC Live-Team/js
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