SOME PEOPLE made it even more of a challenge for themselves. Rob Butler of Off-Road Armoury and Levi Shirley from the Lucky Dog Racing team all the way from Kansas, USA had an intense build of their two stunning new Euro Fighters. Things were so tight that they missed the prologue as they were still driving up and were still putting the finishing touches to the cars AFTER scrutineering!
Another top team with quite a new vehicle is Team Gigglepin. “We took 40kgs out of the Richard’s Chassis, have a new 550bhp LS3 engine, new 6 speed sequential gearbox and new axles, but apart from that, it’s the same,” joked Jim Marsden. Co-driver Mark Birch pointed to the doors, roof panel and bonnet. “It’s all the same,” he smiled.
9 nationalities came to this field in a remote part of central Scotland, Axel Burmann in his gorgeous Bruiser might have started as a favourite… but not for long. He got to 9km before ripping a tyre so badly that his Tyreballs fell out… and so confident was he with his rubberware that he wasn’t carrying a spare… But he didn’t suffer so much as Jerry Hunt. He had caught up with Marsden who was struggling a bit to find the way, but a sideslope caught him out and he ended up on his roof tight in the trees. That left Marsden alone in a very healthy lead.
A long way back
A long way back and struggling a lot when they got a tree stuck between the wheels on a sideslope were Nicolas Monteador and Oliver Varet. They have very strong drop arms on their WSR buggy!
One of only the handful of others car to get out of the stage was Japp Betsema in his brutal Fire Ant. He was taking it very easy when he passed, but the methodical approach got him 5th and needing only a quick look over of the car before heading out again…
The Dutch pairing of Hendrik de Nijs and Stijn Vekeman in their very nice looking buggy did well, again going slow so that they were assured a finish. “He drove with his head, not his feet,” Stijn said. “The first lap was a bit hard as we couldn’t see the arrows but the swamps were OK. The second time they were 1 metre deep pools of mud. But we knew the course so went a little faster… and unfortunately fell on our side. We got 4th because Jaap overtook us in the bogs. With his tyres he could just go fast and get through… we had to think about it…”
Some of those that didn’t make it back… Philon Parpottas found a nice big bog on top of a mountain with nothing to winch too in sight and promptly stuck himself in the middle of it. (Thank you very much for the packets of Buzz Sweets!). The Wrex Racing boys broke the front propshaft and had to spend hours winching out to get back onto the main road, Levi Shirley who despite putting in so much time and effort to get his new car ready, was one of the first to fall. “The ECU wasn’t happy off the start line, a branch took out a hydraulic line and then when we started winching there was an issue with the 24v system… so that was that. We made a little fire and watched the others but even just to be here is an achievement, so I can’t be sad.”
In the sister car was Rob Butler. Near Levi, just a few km in had two punctures… and was only carrying one spare. They put that on the front so that he could steer and then valiantly tried to carry on… but stopped after 15km when the tyre ripped out the calliper and left them with no breaks.
An hour’s service
After an hour’s service it was the start of Lap 2 for the top guys, but this time they had back markers to deal with as the field was destroyed and after 5 hours many crews were still trying to get passed the 5km mark. That didn’t slow Marsden though. He passed me at the 6km mark, along an ancient dry-stone wall under the branches of old pine trees, and despite it being near the start he was 25 minutes in front of the French WSR buggy. Another half an hour later de Nijs came by, his silver buggy against the backdrop of the nearby snow-covered mountains. Another 10 minutes it was Betsema, his LS3 V8 echoing off the trees and finally Burmann who had re-started… and that was it!
There is talk of the course being altered for tomorrow’s 2 laps… and there is talk of some people having slightly different approaches… Bets are on for how many people will make it to the finish…
Results are on the King of the Glens website.
author: Robb Pritchard world 4X4