[chandan]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Oops sorry got confused, it was in Facebook and then immediately i saw this.

Hope Chandan wont mind me sharing.

wayanad wild trails 2012 - YouTube

Thanks for sharing it here Jaggu.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Exactly where was this? I can't recollect this place.

This was just before the infamous rock , on the way back.
It had become a slide only stretch. No way anybody could have gained traction here. So, everyone had to figure out a way to slide down. Our mm550
did it in 1st low, no ABC. The gypsy did it with brakes on all the time, another Gypsy did with engine turned off, 1st gear, no clutch, no brakes, just keeping the steering steady. Our mentor here was Vinay Thomas, he was the only one with a cool head & talking sense. Thanks Vinay. Again, when our jeep rolled over, hardly any sensible talk came from the marshals. Instead it was Vinay who co-ordinated the whole show of bringing the jeep back on all fours & he got behind the wheel as the jeep was straightened up

[Samurai]

We can't see the wheels, so we don't know whether he turned the wheels towards the tilt or not. It happened right over that big rock, quite possible the front wheels didn't have any bearing on the toppling.

Guys, don't judge unless you have seen that rock. That was a real nasty one.

Originally Posted by chandan

This was just before the infamous rock , on the way back.

Oh, that earlier camera position doesn't reveal the rock at all, while the toppling video does show it.

[chandan]

Originally Posted by King413

Was the jeep tipping over by itself, after the first time the Jeeps rear slid could the driver have reversed realigned and come forward? or the jeep had got a mind of its own by then. In the video it looks like a rock threw the back of the Jeep to the right, and when it came to stand still the drive din't attempt to realign instead tried moving forward but the steering correction did not help and the Jeep tilted over.... I may be wrong we can hardly figure out what had actually happened seeing a video.....

It was a combination of a huge rock, down hill, clay, poor visibility & more..more than you can imagine. It was scary. Most vehicles which went before scraped/banged the undercarriage. Once gravity took over, things happened in seconds. Anything could happen to anybody, there was no time to back up, align etc etc. Of course, our jeep had too much steering play, which might have costed us a few seconds, enough to roll it over.

[King413]

Originally Posted by Samurai

We can't see the wheels, so we don't know whether he turned the wheels towards the tilt or not. It happened right over that big rock, quite possible the front wheels didn't have any bearing on the toppling.

Guys, don't judge unless you have seen that rock. That was a real nasty one.

Oh, that earlier camera position doesn't reveal the rock at all, while the toppling video does show it.

Originally Posted by chandan

It was a combination of a huge rock, down hill, clay, poor visibility & more..more than you can imagine. It was scary. Most vehicles which went before scraped/banged the undercarriage. Once gravity took over, things happened in seconds. Anything could happen to anybody, there was no time to back up, align etc etc. Of course, our jeep had too much steering play, which might have costed us a few seconds, enough to roll it over.

Chandan, thanks for he update,
Samurai, wasn't being judgmental, as we could hardly see the rock in the video was trying to learn what went wrong.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by King413

Chandan, thanks for he update,
Samurai, wasn't being judgmental, as we could hardly see the rock in the video was trying to learn what went wrong.

King Ji, going down, the rock makes your vehicle slide to the right. However, if we try to correct the steering to left, the rear further is dragged to the left. I guess this is what happened to Chandan.

IMO, just keeping the steering straight did the trick.

---------------------------------------

Guys, was stuck up in some serious work for the last week. Will update the day -2 happenings soon.

[dhanushs]

Wayanad OTR - July 2012: Day - 2 (Skill Race)


Day - 1 ended late, at about ~2AM for me. I guess it was the same case for most of the participants and marshals. And, as a result, Day - 2 started late, and the morning was pretty heavy. By the time I reached the Hotel, it was pretty late, and the breakfast was almost over. Almost all the participants moved on to the location where the Skill Race was about to begin. I quickly grabbed a bite, and rushed to Kalpetta's Flower Show Ground where the event was going to be held.

I also brought my mechanic with me, so that he knows whats going on in the off-roading scene, and can take a look and get an idea about at all those mechanically and cosmetically modified vehicles. Not to say, he was impressed with all those engine swaps, chassis mods, suspension mods etc etc..

Basically what was going to happen on Day - 2 was: Skill Race.

Meaning, there was an O-Team made track with some obstacles, like mounds, dips, slush pits, slushy turns etc.. and you will have to drive your vehicle through the lap. The fastest to complete the lap would be the winner. But.. There were negative points, or time would be added to your original time for:

• Touching the barricades
• Unnecessary spinning of wheels
• Wheels in the air/jumps
• Winching help.

Vehicles were categorized into three groups.

• Round 1: ATV's
• Round 2: Diesel Vehicles
• Round 3: Petrol Vehicles

There were only three ATV's but 4 drivers. And as usual, out of the total 65 vehicles, most of them were diesels, and hence the most number of participants in Round 2. Petrol vehicles included only Gypsys(about ~7-8 nos), as the only petrol CJ3B was a Marshal vehicle.


By about ~11AM, all the participants were called for briefing and lucky chits decided who would go first.

[dhanushs]

The track included several obstacles.

Starting from a near 180 degree slightly inclined complete slush/clayish right turn. Here you what you needed was the right momentum, and just the right path. If things went wrong, you needed to back up and try again. I could do it only the in the 2nd try.. Well, this was a real time sucker!. Also, this was when I learnt: Always walk the track before driving on it. As I expected the turn to be 90+, but it turned out to be near 180.

And then an incline, where you if you are too slow tyres would spin and the Jeep just wont climb leading to wheelspin, and if you were too fast the vehicle would jump, which was again negative points. You needed just the right speed. This obstacle too, I had to reverse and try again. Just when my first attempt failed, fellow bhp'n and moderator Samurai standing near the incline urged me to get more speed.. And as a result, I crossed, but with a small jump. Well.. it was OK, as most of the other vehicles jumped a lot more than me!.

After this, there were a lot of turns, in which you needed to take right track, or the Jeep would get dragged towards the barricade. I had to reverse in one such turn.

Then was the turn of the slush pits. There were two of them. The 1st one had a hard and sharp incline for exit, and the 2nd one had a complete messy and slushy incline for exit. You needed the right momentum to cross the 1st one without jumping, and in the 2nd one you needed all acceleration you had. I entered the first pit slowly (No Snorkel) and accelerated from about half way. In the second one, well.. I don't clearly remember what I did due to all the adrenalin, but somehow managed to come out.

After which, there was one more turn, which dragged you towards an tree on the right hand side.

P.S: Please include any other obstacles, if at all I have missed something.

[dhanushs]

Now, picture time!


Me getting into the Slush Pit!




The ATV's!






IIRC, this Thar was the 1st or 2nd to get into the track.








And then, some other vehicles tried.























And, then came me!!..




























I was timed 5 Minutes 2 seconds, and is supposedly placed 7th!.. Not sure..

[dhanushs]

Some more pics of Day - 2: Skill Race.

Jagat Nanjappa, and Tom's son posing.






Now, this one didnt make a single obstacle. Thats what too much weight and AT tyres does to you.









Sam's LC. Performed pretty well.



















Another one of vehicles that got winched out of the track.







Mansoor Jumps!

[dhanushs]

I managed to get some videos captured in mobile, from a neighborhood boy.


My 540XD on Day - 2

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VMKnv6xXnrE

Sam Kurians Land Cruiser.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EsEobqMaxFY

http://youtube.com/watch?v=oFQjtcRzPOg

Thar from Kottayam.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cHX2EuqQcL4

This one performed well the previous day, but not that good on Day - 2.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=goLp61xR4II

Winching it out.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=n0NgYgMwzuU