A review - MAHINDRA GREAT ESCAPE (MGE) CHENNAI – February 2019
MGE comes to Chennai after a long gap, and was to be held on 13, October, 2018, which was then postponed to 21, October, 2018.
The event did not happen in October, 2018, probably due to the poor response received on the online registrations, thanks to the Mahindra Dealers in Chennai, who took, either very less or no initiative in calling the owners of Mahindra vehicles to inform them of the proposed event. I did not get a call, and neither did my friends, all owning Thars, and all purchased in Chennai.
And finally on 2nd February, 2019, the MGE in Chennai happened.
Registration and participation was pegged at Rs 3000/ per vehicle for 2 persons, with the option of adding more persons at an extra cost and this included Breakfast and lunch, a snack pack, Mahindra T-shirts and caps, and the Mahindra Adventure sticker set.
Venue for reporting/Flag Off : Motel Mamalla, Mahabalipuram
Adventure type : Trail Drive.
Date : 2nd February, 2019
Time : 0800 hrs
Location of the OTR : The Palar River Bed.
Reached the venue at 8 am, and found that there were quite a number of participants. I had made an online registration and payment, so just had to go to the counter, get my participation confirmed and collect the Mahindra goodie pack. There were a few ‘onsite’ registration as well, and by the crowd assembled and the number of vehicles lined up, I guess there would have been 40 vehicles, which included a few 2 wheel drives ones.
The Chennai based off roading team Terra Tigers (TT) were pooled in by Mahindra to assist in conducting the event, so in addition to the participants vehicles, there were around 14 of the TT marshal vehicles and 12 of the Mahindra Adventure Team. So that made a total of 64 Mahindra off roaders. And an ambulance with the medicos for any medical emergencies.
After breakfast, all participants were gathered and a briefing was given by the Mahindra Adventure team, with a brief history of what MGE was and the type of events that were being conducted. There were many participant who had never taken their vehicle off the road, and only a few hands rose, when asked about prior off road experience.
A token of appreciation was given to the TT head by the MGE team.
Flag Off happened at around 10.30 am, and then the participants were asked to proceed in a convoy towards the entry to the Palar river bed, around 25 km from the Motel.
I had been to the Palar a few times for the events organized by the TT, and knew what to expect. There are a total of 7 special stages (SS) consisting of rock climbing/crawling, sand dunes, slush pits, mudding areas, grass lands, all spread across the vast river, and connected with loose sand and hard rocky and gravel tracks.
The convoy reached the OTR point at around 11.30 from where 2 wd and 4x4 vehicles were split into 2 convoys, of 10 x 2wd and the remaining 30 4x4.
I had a Thar, and queued up into the 4x4 line to proceed to the first SS, the slush trail, which was going to be a drive through very loose and dry sand to get there. And so we had a convoy of 30 vehicles, mostly Thars, lead, escorted and swept by the MGE and TT vehicles. The sand was loose and progress was slow.
I shall let the photos speak, starting off with photos from the starting point to the finish, and then bore you more with the narration after the photos.
The Venue
The Breakfast spread
The Line up outside the Motel
Stickering the vehicles
The briefing before Flag Off
Token of Appreciation to the Terra Tigers Team
Flag Off
Entry line up at The Palar
The first Special Stage - slush