Tyre manufacturer Maxxis is celebrating victory in King of the Valleys, a new 4×4 endurance event that looks set to take the UK’s off-road world by storm and become the country’s ‘toughest off-road racing challenge’.  Maxxis sponsored the inaugural event at Walters Arena, near Glyn Neath in South Wales (27-29 July), which was won by Team Acerni Racing from Italy on Maxxis Trepador competition tyres.

King of the Valleys was organised by the Neil Whitford on behalf of the All-Wheel Drive Club – the largest all-makes off road club in the UK with some 2,000 members – and supported by Ultra4 Racing, who organise the Griffin King of the Hammers event in California.  The impressive 34-strong entry list included many of the UK’s top off-road teams plus visitors from France, Italy and Malta, in vehicles ranging from ‘Challenge’ Land Rovers to custom-built buggies.  Around a dozen of the teams were using Maxxis tyres.

The event is a Challenge, one of the fastest-growing forms of off-road motorsport, in which teams are pitted against tough natural obstacles and aim to reach key points on the course and collect proof that they have successfully made it through each stage.  Over three days teams tackled more than 60-course miles, encompassing every type of terrain available at the 1,600 acre.

Walters Arena motorsports complex, and Team Acerni Racing dominated from the start, with driver Pier Acerni and co-driver Romeo Manzan setting fastest times on all but one of the four runs and the prologue section.  The winners will now enjoy automatic entry into Griffin King of the Hammers 2013 – an event with which Maxxis already has a major association – while the organisers will also meet the costs of shipping their vehicle to California to compete.