[DKG]

A series of obstacles were created to test axle articulation and the relevance of attack, breakover, and departure angles. Ofcourse how smoothly a driver was able to negotiate these challenges was the real test.





Even by 9 am at this remote location we had a large crowd gathered. Breakfast and tea was a lovely way to start the day





The first vehicle off the block was this muscular Judo which is closely related to the Gurkha with front and rear difflocks





As I had captured most cars in details in the previous year I spent a lot less time photographing all the entrants. Here's another beauty lined up to go



Here's what Jeeps are meant to do offroad. Flex and retain traction despite not having diff locks



Short wheel base offroaders with short overhang, old and new generation, are ideally suited for clearing obstacles such as these.









Its at this juncture as you exit an incline where short overhang means the world to you as anything with a long tail ends up scraping the ground. Even the SWB Jeeps with rear footsteps were scraping these dips. Unfortunately the rear overhang of Gypsies meant many a number plate and bumper got scraped. The trick is also to do this gently so as to minimise damage.


The crowd was simply fabulous. Ever enthusiastic and cheering the participants on. With each obstacle cleared and the crowd applauding you could see the drivers' faces light up with satisfaction. Its a people thing above all and everyone had a ball yesterday.



A lovely Toyota FJ in action



With Mitsubishi being the main sponsor a lot of Montero and SFX owners turned up. It was a pleasure to see these wonderful machines perform well. Gently done on exit the rear metal bumper just about picked up some soil, but no damage!







One of the most beautiful sights at yesterday's event was a sizeable group of village folk in attendance watching in rapt attention. Young and old they stayed throughout marvelling at man and machine. Major entertainment !!

[DKG]

The local village folk are primarily from the Lambada tribes. These were traditionally nomadic tribes that are found across the Deccan Plateau. They have distinctly Aryan features and I've seem some with blond hair too! The women wear these extraordinary colourful garments with mirrors woven in. Apart from agriculture, stone breaking was a major vocation for these tribes.

Here you see women and children enjoying themselves





Some gorgeous oldies awaiting their turn on the track





Some well maintained high bonnet Jeeps. There was a rare Austin Champ too.



It took some cajoling but my friend attended in his brand new 2008 TLC. He was so charged up by the atmosphere that he signed up to participate





My favourite was this lovely RR Sport. To me this is the world's most handsome SUV and boy did she impress us all offroad!!!





I must say the RR was the biggest surprise of the day. It cleared each and every obstacle magnificently with no damage whatsoever. The crowd was literally applauding the driver at every obstacle as everyone thought she would either bottom-out or scrape the tail big time. She did neither.



A valiant effort was made by this Cayenne S. It was a delight to see the Porsche four wheel drive system ensuring the car had traction at all times. There were moments when a right front wheel would be carried motionless for a good three feet in air before it catches ground. Sophisticated electronics ensured traction was never lost. It was only at the ditch obstacle that the lower departure angle on account of a massive quad exhaust system meant the owner had to pull out. Great effort and we were all delighted that the owners of such fabulous machinery participated so whole heartedly.



The star in my opinion of the axle articulation obstacle was this 2 dr Nissan Patrol. It was a pleasure to see this awesome machine literally glide through seamlessly as if this was a piece of cake. It was effortless in stride and none of the other offroaders did this so smoothly. The driver too handled the machine supremely and it was a pleasure to see man and machine blend so well.





Apart from these there was a hill climb obstacle at the end of the track. Lastly there was a winching section where offroaders had to demonstrate using a winch.



The Judo lined up for action



In all there were more than 66 participants. The crowd must have been close to 500 people villagers included. It was a blast. A huge success. The response was so overwhelming that a media baron offered to host the next year's event all expenses paid!!! Now that's what I call a job well done. When the next one is lined up already!

[khan_sultan]

This is simply amazing and must say that no words can do justice to the meticulous planning that is evident from the pictures. Creating the man made obstacles requires some thorough insight into the technical aspects of off-roading and it seems that this was done to perfection.

Kudos to you all folks who made this happen. This is the exactly the stuff that would make more and more people interested in off-roading.

Shams sir, you have shown great leadership and set an example of how one can organize successful and safe OTR events.

Keep it up.

Cheers,

[-GT-]

WOW! What a beautifully organized event !

DKG: Lovely pictures and a very nice coverage of the event. Nice to see a good variety of machines participating. Porsche Cayenne is definitely a surprise !

Is that green Jeep (No. 3) modded by Bharat Motors?

BTW, how did the LC 200 perform? You didn't mention much about its performance - are we to assume that it was struggling?

[maddy42]

Beautifully organised event. Kudos to you guys for the grand success for this event and shams you deserve a round of applause. Must have taken brilliant skill to set this one up.
DKG awesome pictures buddy. How did the Toyota perform? I loved the green 540. Very well executed job on it

[snaronikar]

Nice pics. Was surprised to see RR and Porsche in this. BTW how did these vehicles perform?

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

Nice pics. Was surprised to see RR and Porsche in this. BTW how did these vehicles perform?

If you read the text between the pics, you will find that information.

[Samurai]

Wow, I am amazed. Finally we have modern 4WD competing with ancient 4WD, I wish I could have seen this first hand. Wish to hear some performance comparisons.

[Spitfire]

Another feather in the Jeep Thrills Cap. Awesome event, congrats on managing it so well. Lot of people are not aware in the amount of planning that needs to be done before any offroading event and controlling the participants and on lookers is the biggest headache, from the pics it looks like this was handled very well.

Oh and what a turnout from the old beauties to the Range Rover (somehow RR is for Rolls Royce), commendable job.

[razor4077]

Great writeup and pics, of an absolutely fabulous event! I wish we could have something like this in East India. If you have any more pics, please do post them. Were there any Safaris, Scorpios (apart from the Getaway that was mentioned) or Boleros participating?

[tsk1979]

Wow what an event. Great writeup DKG.
Looking for more comparison and action shots!

[DKG]

In terms of organising, I think the Jeep Thrills group here in Hyderabad has an awesome team. Apart from Shams who is an absolute ace in terms of mobilising people to help either by way of sponsorships or volunteers there is Mr. Shafath, Salik, Mr. Giridhar Reddy who despite the years seems to have the energy and enthsuiasm of a teenager and Moin, the champion on the ground who is a master in getting things done.

All these gentlemen shouldered mutually agreed to responsibilities admirably and ensured everything worked smoothly. As Shams and I drove to the event, throughout the journey he was on the phone making sure the a/c in the media cars was turned on before the pax arrived, to refreshments purchased to make the journey pleasant, to flags and banners being posted along the way so no one gets lost. Its the small details that made it so impressive. Pan (betel leaf) and cigarettes was the ultimate!!! Ensuring everyone was comfortable and the event conducted safely seemed to have been a paramount concern. As most judges were elderly, care was taken to ensure food was served at their stations instead of having them to walk the distance.

They were very clear from the start that making the event broadbased is the key to participation and popularising the sport, and what a success they have engineered.

The local MLA was so floored by the event that he expressed his appreciation for bringing something vibrant to his constituency and promised he would excavate a special track for the next event if required on a larger scale. He didn't miss the chance to hop into the Judo and experience the thrill first hand.

There are many many more who helped in making the event a grand success. Its not possible to mention all the names but events of this scale do require a large army of volunteers.

My heartiest congratulations to the team. Shams and I are already planning some wild trail blazers and we've got a sponsor all charged up for it.

Apart from Mitsubishi, Lambda was there with their free wheeling hubs and hydraulic winches, Mobil oil was present and stalls provided to showcase their products. Events like these make great business sense and the sport is definitely on a roll now in Hyderabad as sponsors are getting excited about it!

You can tell I am mighty kicked about it all

[Ricky_63]

WOW !!! And thanks for sharing such a wonderful event !! My favourite, among others, quite clearly is the Green MM550 (Wrangler lookalike) done by Bharat Motors.

Thanks once again DKG for the wonderful photos & writeup.



Cheers

[vikid]

very nice show and some cool 4x4's there..

[V-16]

Thats a great informative post Deepak.
I loved the detailed pictures too.

Its true that a picture speaks worthy reading.
Keep it up bro.!!