Photo credit – Thom Kingston/Spidertrax

The opening round of the MAXXIS Ultra4 Europe 2014 Series saw a truly international line-up of 20 teams gather in the dramatic scenery of the highlands of Scotland for what was to prove a true off-road test for men and machines.

The 10,000 acre Griffin Forest was the venue for the event and promised a real taste of the local terrain with open heather-clad mountain tops interspersed with forest plantations, all linked together with smooth, graded rally tracks.

Following a day of Technical Inspections the event proper kicked off on Thursday afternoon with a short Prologue stage which was designed to give the teams a taster of the challenges that lay ahead as well as seed them into a fastest-first running order for the main event starting the following morning. Running the cars individually around the 3 mile Prologue also gave team a chance to see their fellow competitors in action, something that rarely happens in off-road events. A number of new or heavily refurbished cars were making their debut on this occasion so there was a strong sense of anticipation in the air. Wrex Racing’s Dan Elias was at the wheel of one such new car that many were keen to see, his departure from the start line attracting much attention as he discovered what happens when a monster V8 engine delivers its power to the gravel in two wheel drive as he snaked up the start straight wrestling to keep the car on the track. Local team Stuart Munro and Jim Lamb were early casualties when their portal-axled buggy suffered steering failure in the tight forested section, resulting in a short delay to proceedings while the car was winched off the track to make room for others to pass.

Team Offroadterror’s Axel Burmann was an early leader on the prologue despite the sheer size of his vehicle causing concerns in the trees, he clearly wasn’t going to let this stand in his way and was almost a minute ahead of the rest of the field until Team Gigglepin’s Jim Marsden and Mark Birch set off for the penultimate attempt at the prologue having patiently watched all the other teams. Despite a complete Winter rebuild and relatively un-tested new engine, drivetrain and suspension combination, Jim managed to pip Axel’s time by just 4 seconds to put himself at the top of the leaderboard and first off the line the following morning.

Until the early hours of Friday morning the sound of generators and engineering equipment filled the air in the Paddock field as teams worked to get their vehicles race-ready again following the initiation of the Prologue. With a course of almost 30km ahead of them and the challenge of two laps a day for the next two days there was no doubt that these final preparations needed to be as strong and thorough as possible. A further two teams arrived during the night, the brand new Off Road Armoury Eurofighters built by Rob Butler for himself and American Team Lucky Dog Racing who are committed to flying in for all four rounds of the 2014 European series. Missing the Prologue meant that not only did the receive a Maximum Time for the first section but they would be starting at the back of pack with many potentially slower cars in front of them. Given that the new cars had suffered major transmission bugs just a couple of days earlier, it was nothing short of a miracle that they were in place to compete at all.

At exactly 10:00am on Friday morning Team Gigglepin howled off the line and disappeared into the distance along the first kilometer of the course. Every two minutes for the next 40 minutes another team headed off in pursuit until the start line was silent and the only feedback on progess were radio reports as teams reached manned checkpoints and the online updates from the Yellowbrick Satellite trackers fitted to each vehicle. These transmit real-time location information every minute which can be followed on the event website to monitor progress of teams around the course.

Except that there wasn’t much progress! After the first few cars had made their way through the early parts of the course, the heather-clad terrain was stripped away to reveal soft, peaty areas that the cars were struggling to get through. No sooner had one team managed to winch itself free than another was waiting to replace it and all the time the bogs were getting softer and deeper. Add to this the customary breakages, punctures, running out of fuel and before long the teams were spread liberally around the lengthy forest course.

At the front of the pack the leaders ploughed on, unaware of what was unfolding in their wake and there were a number of changes to the lead as driving to survive became the number one priority.

Ultimately it was Team Gigglepin’s Marsden and Birch who regained the lead and ended their first lap in the same pole position as they had started and headed back to the service area with the clock now ticking as the crew had 60 minutes in which to prepare the vehicle in readiness for the next run. Second car back from the opening run was French Team WSR’s Nicolas Montador whilst third were Jerry Hunt and James Trembath in the second Team Gigglepin car.

The pace picked up for the second lap of the day with the remaining teams now more familiar with the terrain, aware of the pitfalls waiting round every corner but able to pick up the pace where the ground was holding firm. Marsden knocked 30 minutes off his opening run time, Montador 35 faster and Jaap Betsema from Team D&G Fireant shaving off 40 minutes to bring them well under the 3 hour lap time.

By the end of the first full day only 8 teams had managed to make it out for their second run with the remainder either remaining on course awaiting recovery or needing significant repairs that could not be achieved in the 60 minutes allotted time.

The spirit of Ultra4 racing is about endurance and teamwork and so it was that Friday night saw the teams battle to restore their vehicles to race-ready condition for the following morning and another two grueling circuits of the course. Teams that are adversaries in the field are also comrades off it and many swapped tools, parts and time to help one another prepare again for the 9:00am commencement of action which saw all but three teams ready and able to start the second full day.

Once again Team Gigglepin were first off the line and a clear run at the course ahead of them saw them set the fastest lap of the event at a fraction over 1hr 50 minutes. Team Fireant continued to shave time of their previous runs while the second Gigglepin car of Hunt and Trembath concluded their 3^rd lap successfully, leaving the remainder of the field struggling with the terrain, mechanical issues or a combination of the two.

The hard-working recovery marshals were kept busy extracting vehicles from their last resting places or escorting them back along safe routes through the forest so teams could assess the damage and effect repairs in the pits with the few spare parts left available to them.

The fourth and final run saw just under half the field make one last attempt to circumnavigate the whole course. By this stage there was a sense amongst many that simply to complete the circuit would be an achievement in its own right and some just wanted to see what was waiting for them in parts of the forest that the preceding three laps had denied them. For all but Marsden and Birch however that was a privilege that was going to be missed as they became the only team to successfully complete the final run within the allotted time and the only team to post a time under the maximum for all five of their laps.

As the teams gathered for the conclusion of the event and the prizegiving, spirits were not diminished. Most knew that to survive 120 competitive kilometres in the Highlands of Scotland was going to take more than just good luck and that all the pieces of the puzzle were going to have to slot into place. For Team Gigglepin they did just that and the lead that Marsden and Birch opened over their closest rivals in Team Fireant of almost three and a half hours illustrates why they must now be the firm favourites for the next round, as the MAXXIS Ultra4 Europe series heads to Northern Italy for the King of the Mountains on June 21-22^nd.

Final Positions

More:

• Read Team Gigglepin’s report from Maxxis King of The Glens
• Check out our Extreme 4×4 tyre range