All set for Taprobana 4x4 challenge

Anuradha ABEYSEKERA

The eighth version of the Taprobana 4x4 Challenge will gear up tomorrow and will continue till October 14, with its main event as a five day grueling, covering 800km of the most remote terrains in the Uva Province.

The event which inaugurated in 2004 as '4x4 Challenge Sri Lanka' has been conducted continuously as an annual event by the Four Wheel Drive Club (FWDC) and was re-named as 'Taprobana 4x4 Challenge' in 2010. Reaching greater heights in this year, it has been included as a

circuit event of the Malasian Rain Forest Challenge (RFC), known to be the world's most represented and toughest 4x4 challenge.

The six-stage event will start with the Pro-Log, which is a prelude to the main event, on October 8 at Korothota, Kaduwela where the spectators can witness a sample of 4x4 action which is going to take place in the jungle over the next few days.

The first jungle stage will begin on the following day from Khambana Village in the Moneragala District and will end at the camp site beside the Radha Wewa. The other stages will be worked off from October 10 to 12 around Sengala rock hills, Kotiyagala grasslands, Nambana Oya and Kumbukan Oya in the wild countryside on the existing jeep and cart tracks.

The FWDC Event Director Sean Hameed revealed that 25 to 30 competitors including six foreign teams (five from Malaysia and one from Australia) will take part in this year's challenge and Sri Lanka will definitely be under the international 4x4 media focus. He further said, "Sri Lanka has captured the focus of adventure motoring, leisure and extreme sports enthusiasts across the globe and will be under the spotlight as the adventure sporting destination in the region."

"We have all the natural resources needed for this sport with a vast variety where no other country can offer and the event was organized coincide with the monsoon rains, letting the tracks to naturally get healed with the showers," Sean explained.

"We will conduct the event according to the highest international standards where the scoring will be done with reductions for environmental negligence and unsafe driving, according to the 'Off Road Code', as a standard practice," Sean added.

Sri Lanka first emerged in the international 4x4 scene in 2009 when Indika Sanjaya was placed third in the Malasian RFC along with Team Spirit Award and two other awards.

With the support of official communication partner Etisalat, plans have been made to provide daily photo updates from the jungle through their broad band inter-net service to the outer world.

FWDC President Prashan Wijayanayake thanked the main sponsor MBSL Insurance, official partners GAC Logistics, Dave Tractors, Red Bull, Real radio and appreciated all the co-sponsors for their support.