[ex670c]

THE PALAR CHALLENGE – 2010

EVENT REPORT

At the outset let me address all the off-roaders who made it for TPC 2010 you guys are the BEST.

The standard of these years’ participants has encouraged us to take the event to the next level in 2011.

Those who missed it, you guys have another year to get prepared

All the last minute entries that were turned down, please make your reservation within time, you had 4 months.

For the vehicles that did not pass scrutiny – sorry but it was for your own safety and the well-being of the vehicle. We are sure you understand why, now that you have seen the event.

Some of the participants did not take the warnings on the website seriously and had to pay a very expensive price to learn that instructions are meant to be followed.

This year we had a tremendous response with 11 Teams competing.

The Indo-Lanka Team was back in full strength 3 Vehicles & 6 Competitors.

The three teams from Bangalore, complimented the Indo-Lanka team in raising the event to another level.

We look forward to more participants from Sri Lanka in the years to come.

Keeping with Adventure Zone’s eco-friendly motto, there were penalties for littering. All participants had to bring back the litter from their lunch hampers at the end of each day and were docked 3 points for each item missing.

The Adventure Zone campsite was brilliant, in terms of logistics, comfort and cost. We are happy to say that participants got comfortable air-conditioned tents, deluxe toilets and excellent food on all days. The packed lunches were adequate and tasty, and participants were provided with 5-lit water cans, plus tetra-packs of fruit juices etc. in individual ice-boxes.

The Event

These were the teams:
Blue 1 – Mhd.Ali (CJ3B), Siddhartha(CJ3B), Patrick K (CJ3B)
Blue 2 – Rajkumar (MM550XD) Vijayanand (CJ5), Amit Tomar (CJ500D)
Blue 3 – Prabhu AV (MM540DP), Swastik Viji (MM550XD), Prashanth (MM550XD)
Blue 4 – Dr.Jones (Prowler), Vikram R (MG413W), Lokesh (MM540DP)
Blue 5 – Vijay Reddy (MM550XD), Lokesh (MG413W), Nishant (MM550XD)
Red 1 – Sanjay David (MM540DP), Raghav (MM550XD), Vjay (MG413W)
Red 2 – Manzoor (CJ3B), Jose (Bolero Invader), Ranjith (CLASSIC)
Red 3 – Shahnawaz (Spidey), Siddu (MG413W), Prithviraj (MG413W)
Red 4 – Sean Hameed (MG413W), Baskar Keshavalu (MM540DP), Zubin (MM550XD)
Red 5 – Allan (MM550XD), Vivek (Land-Rover Defender 90), Sireesh (MM550XD)
Red 6 – Sunil Shetty (MG413W), Dr,Gopi (MG410W), Balu (MM550XD).

The Special Stages were manned by

Maj. S. R. Roy (MM540DI),
Arkaprava Datta (MM540XD),
Manoj Shah & Aravind (MM540DP),
Arcadeep Datta and Lateef (Nissan 4W73),
Mahendran (MM540DP),
Venkatesan Muthaiyan (MM540DP),
Senthil Kumar Rajakumar (MG410W)
Gurushankar Subramaniam (MG413W)
Ganesh (CJ500D)
Balamurugan Saikumar (MM540DP)

DAY 01
We left the campsite at 6:00 am, after an early breakfast.
The participants were split into two groups Red and Blue for a staggered start, to avoid cluttering up on the riverbed.

OTR Distance for Day 1 - 26 kms: Wallahjahbad to Chenglepet

At the Start Line the teams were flagged off towards the Special Stages (SS). Each SS was marked by a flag, and manned by the organizers. The participants had to find their own way across the terrain and execute their own recovery. It was a blistering hot day with temperatures nudging 40 C and humidity close to 85%. However, all the vehicles and participants held out very well. The large supply of juices and ORS came in very handy.

Here are the various SS:
SS 10– 3 Climbs with Slush Exit (Maj.Roy MM540)
SS 9 – 5 Point Climbs (Venkat CJ3B)
SS 8 – Rapid 3 Climbs (Aravind)
SS 7 - Table Top + Linear Dune + Pit. (Mahendran MM550XD)
SS 6 – 4 Point Figure of 8 (Arka MM540XD)
SS 5 – 5 Climbs with rutted run (Guru MG413W)
SS 4 – 5 Fingers (Bala MM540DP)
SS 3 – "Palm" spurs & re-entrants (Deep)
SS 2 – 4 Point Climbs ( Senthil MG410W)
SS1 – 3 Climb In and Climb Outs (Manoj Shah)

DAY 02
Day02 added some cheer to the participants as the weather was less demanding.

We reached the riverbed by 07:45hrs.

OTR Distance for Day 2 – 12 kms: Boothur to Pulipurakoil
Here are the various SS:
SS 1– 3 Point Climbs Manoj Shah MM540DP)
SS 2 –5Point Climbs (Deep MM540DP)
SS 3 – 5 Point Table Top Saddle & Water Pit exit (Guru MG413W)
SS 4 – Table Top & Loops (Arka MM540XD)
SS 5– Triple Mud Pit (Mahendran MM550XD)
SS 6 – 5 Point Climbs Short Step (Venkat CJ3B)
SS 7 – 4 Point Climbs (Senthil MG410W)
SS 8 – 3 Point Water/Mud Climbs (Maj.Roy MM540).

We reached the campsite at 19:30 hrs. After tea and freshening-up, we assembled on the lawn for the quiz. Participants were quizzed on technical aspects of the jeep plus on first-aid procedures.
Then came the grand moment, when the prizes were announced.

Results of TPC2010

There was some error between the Keyboard and the Chair, and some of the entires were not filled in correctly, on behalf of the O-Team, I would like to apologise to Teams Red 4 & Red 5

Winner, Palar Challenge 2010 (Presented by RK Auto Coporation):
Blue 4 – Dr.Jones (Prowler), Vikram R (MG413W), Lokesh (MM540DP)

Runners-up – Red 4 – Sean Hameed (MG413W), Baskar Keshavalu (MM540DP), Zubin (MM550XD

Overall 3Rd 1st Amongst the First Timers (To TPC) –
Red 5 – Allan (MM550XD), Vivek (Land-Rover Defender 90), Sireesh (MM550XD)

Most Performing 4WD (Prize Presented by Alphazee.net )
The First – Mhd.Ali (CJ3B
The Second – Prithviraj (MG413W)
The Third – Manzoor (CJ3B)

Winner, Technical Event (Presented by TECHENCLAVE.COM & Electric Tyre Inflators presented by VANJAX, India)
Blue 5 – Vijay Reddy (MM550XD), Lokesh (MG413W), Nishant (MM550XD)

Spirit of Palar (Most Sporting Team) – (VANJAX, India, presented 6 Bottel Jacks)
Red 2 – Manzoor (CJ3B), Jose (Bolero Invader), Ranjith (CLASSIC)

Individual Special Stage (Best Individual Timing)
First – Sunil Shetty (MG413W)
Second – Prabhu AV (MM540DP)
Third – Jose (Invader)

Regards,

Arka

[MileCruncher]

At last the report starts. Can we have some pictures/videos please.

Cheers

[ex670c]

Hi Guys,

This the first set of pics.

Regards,

Arka

[IronWolf]

First off Congrats to all the winners and for the participants for going through the challenge

Originally Posted by ex670c

Some of the participants did not take the warnings on the website seriously and had to pay a very expensive price to learn that instructions are meant to be followed.

This is something I hope is explained in the posts to come. Not the whos.. but curious to understand what happened.

Originally Posted by ex670c

The three teams from Bangalore, complimented the Indo-Lanka team in raising the event to another level.

Great going Bengalooru teams.

Looking forward to more pics and vids.

[khan_sultan]

Why are the scores from SS 1/2/3 on Day 1 not counted???

[matchless]

Congratulation to team Blue 4
Runner-up team Red 4 where excellent, unfortunately the team members were not feeling well during the stage 8, 7 and 6. Due to which their total got reduced in Day 1.

Hat off to Basker for the performance after the minor accident which could have been fatal if he didn’t have the roll cage

It was pretty unfortunate for team red 4 this year, best of luck for next year.

Based on the observation this year we are planning to make roll cage and helmet mandatory

Cheers

[ex670c]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Why are the scores from SS 1/2/3 on Day 1 not counted???

Hi Shanawaz,

2 Teams (Indo-Lanka & Kerala) were not allowed to continue their run due to inclement weather & Time Constraints.

Therefore the scores for SS1/2/3 Day#1 were not tallied to be even and keep all teams in contention.

Regards,

Arka

[xtreme power]

same question as khan
also which stage was judged for the individual fastest timings
how i see it is if ss 1-3 are counted, WHICH THEY SHOULD BE,
MY TEAM FROM BOMBAY SHOULD BE SECOND OVERALL MAYBE(NEVER DID THE MATHS YET)

[esteem_lover]

Congrats Vikram, Dr.Jones and Lokesh.
Second time now vikram ?

[Jaggu]

Completely agree with Allen ^^^, its unfair. We all were fighting nature and some of us did good timings and completed all the stages before weather and on time. So i guess points needs to be considered.

Even last day, inspite of having issues with vehicles we dashed through last 3 stages so that we complete it on time and before lights went off! We even waited for close to 2 hours just to help others!

Not fair at all!

[xtreme power]

ARKA,
let me get something right here,
during our briefing by major roy,
we were told that we should follow our team orders i.e 1,2,3,4 and 5
and if there was any major breakdowns it would be at the teams loss and time
all teams would have a total time to finish all stages, and if they reach later then the time calculated they would not be allowed to finish that stage
my team, red 5 started the first ss of day 1 after red 4
and finished all the ss's in time
even red 6 which started after me and was down to only one car, finished all the ss's of day 1
if the respectivie teams were late, im sorry to say but its their loss and should not be ours,
you can clearly see that most teams had completed all ss's
team red 2 started the first day late cause one of their vehicles broke down so that is their problem and not ours

if this was the case being followed, after my defender broke down on day 2 i would not have attacked any more stages and would have taken the trophy easily, would u cancel all those stages i did not complete cause i was trying to get my car rolling and hence short of time

dont get me wrong here, vikrams team was brilliant, superb even as they were all intact till the end and attacked each and every stage thru both days

but why if teams that started after red 2 and red 4, and finished all stages of day 1 should be less fortunate and not collect those points

please correct me anywhere if im wrong
u need to correct your scoring sheet

[gsferrari]

August 12th arrival, registration and scrutiny:

YouTube - TPC 2010 Registration and Scrutiny

More coming soon...

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by ex670c

...2 Teams (Indo-Lanka & Kerala) were not allowed to continue their run due to inclement weather & Time Constraints.

Therefore the scores for SS1/2/3 Day#1 were not tallied to be even and keep all teams in contention..

This is REALLY interesting. So they don't do the 3 SS's, get to preserve their vehicles..!!!!

Originally Posted by xtreme power

...
also which stage was judged for the individual fastest timings

Lot many questions here also allan. Also what is this "most sporting" team?? how is it judged?

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Completely agree with Allen ^^^, its unfair. We all were fighting nature and some of us did good timings and completed all the stages before weather and on time. So i guess points needs to be considered.

Even last day, inspite of having issues with vehicles we dashed through last 3 stages so that we complete it on time and before lights went off! We even waited for close to 2 hours just to help others!

Not fair at all!

+10000.

Originally Posted by xtreme power

....if this was the case being followed, after my defender broke down on day 2 i would not have attacked any more stages and would have taken the trophy easily, would u cancel all those stages i did not complete cause i was trying to get my car rolling and hence short of time

he he. Fully Agree.!!!!

EDIT: Adding score sheet in image format for better readability

[ex670c]

Originally Posted by xtreme power

same question as khan
also which stage was judged for the individual fastest timings
how i see it is if ss 1-3 are counted, WHICH THEY SHOULD BE,
MY TEAM FROM BOMBAY SHOULD BE SECOND OVERALL MAYBE(NEVER DID THE MATHS YET)

Originally Posted by xtreme power

ARKA,
let me get something right here,
during our briefing by major roy,
we were told that we should follow our team orders i.e 1,2,3,4 and 5
and if there was any major breakdowns it would be at the teams loss and time
all teams would have a total time to finish all stages, and if they reach later then the time calculated they would not be allowed to finish that stage
my team, red 5 started the first ss of day 1 after red 4
and finished all the ss's in time
even red 6 which started after me and was down to only one car, finished all the ss's of day 1
if the respectivie teams were late, im sorry to say but its their loss and should not be ours,
you can clearly see that most teams had completed all ss's
team red 2 started the first day late cause one of their vehicles broke down so that is their problem and not ours

if this was the case being followed, after my defender broke down on day 2 i would not have attacked any more stages and would have taken the trophy easily, would u cancel all those stages i did not complete cause i was trying to get my car rolling and hence short of time

dont get me wrong here, vikrams team was brilliant, superb even as they were all intact till the end and attacked each and every stage thru both days

but why if teams that started after red 2 and red 4, and finished all stages of day 1 should be less fortunate and not collect those points

please correct me anywhere if im wrong
u need to correct your scoring sheet

ALLAN,

The decision to not include the scores of SS1/2/3 on Day#1 is across the board, because the O-Team held back 2 Red Teams due to inclement weather & Time Constraints, while some of the blue Teams were allowed to continue during the same time.

So to make it even for all the Competitors we decided to annul the scores of Day#1 SS1/2/3. (which 9 of the 11 teams had already completed)

wrt. to Individual Special Stages, if you had attended the Prize Ceremony you would have understood the criteria & consideration was exceptional driving, and the ability to keep going.

Regards,

Arka

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

This is REALLY interesting. So they don't do the 3 SS's, get to preserve their vehicles..!!!!

Lot many questions here also allan. Also what is this "most sporting" team?? how is it judged?

Hi Shanawaz,

Preserving vehicles is all about driving technique and vehicle preparation prior to the event.

Even the winning Team had its fair share of Mechanical Failures.

Some teams managed to preserve the vehicles for one full day, only to get back the next day.

The Most Sporting Team was judged by the fact for their spotting, navigating, team work, helping other teams and recovery work.

Regards,

Arka

[khan_sultan]

wrt. to Individual Special Stages, if you had attended the Prize Ceremony you would have understood the criteria & consideration was exceptional driving, and the ability to keep going.

Who was judging their exceptional driving skills and what does it constitute? What does "ability to get going mean" in the specific context of TPC?

While rest of awards are points based, this & the most sporting team/technical team are subjective. It will really help us if we know what these winners exhibited towards the above mentioned criteria.