Four Wheel Drive Club of Sri Lanka

Text by Darshan Maralanda, pix by Anuradha Ratnaweera

Day 3 had four special stages planned on either side of the river, where the Lankan team took on SS 13 and 14.

SS13 was a drive through a thickly wooded area and considering the 15 minute DNF and the ample debit point possibilities, the team decided to take a DNF after reaching the 10 point mark hoping to save their machine for the rest of the event.

SS14 was through a creek gully which had the competitor winching through almost a 90 degree gully wall. However, the competitors ahead had broken through and made it viable for the Lankan Patrol to winch through and successfully complete the SS within 8 minutes.

SS11 and 12 on the other side were not very fortunate for the team as the vehicle's alternator packed up and had to be repaired within the SS since no recovery could reach where the Patrol was stuck. While Arbin was busy dismantling the alternator, a Sri Lankan style lunch was cooked in the SS area itself. When the lunch was over, the vehicle was ready and had to go through winching motions of the regular run to get out of the SS.

As the team rushed out the SS11, they had to take on SS12 which was a downhill slope to the river, drive along the rocky river bed, and back up the hill to the starting box. The misfortune followed as the vehicle started missing few meters away from the finishing box while inclined uphill. Lankan fighting spirit was witnessed by all media personal and fellow competitors where they never gave up the fight. They kept the engine running with the miss, and winched themselves into the finishing box 2 minutes shy of the allocated 15-minute DNF time.

During this SS, the rear trailer arm bolt fell off which was then discovered that it was a normal 4.8 tensile strength common bolt which is only suitable to hang pictures on the wall! After a disappointing day where the vehicle let the Lankan team down, they decided to borrow some tools from the well equipped Malaysian team and tightened every bolt undercarriage by themselves.