Croatia Trophy 2013 - 100% Off-Road απόλαυση!

[pc4x4n]

Αλέκο ( aapo ) και Πάνο ( panos110 )….αν θέλετε βοηθούς και για τις δυο διοργανώσεις , θα τους έχετε , το 4X4 Ναυπλίου θα είναι κοντά σας …..

[panos110]

Αλέκο ( aapo ) και Πάνο ( panos110 )….αν θέλετε βοηθούς και για τις δυο διοργανώσεις , θα τους έχετε , το 4X4 Ναυπλίου θα είναι κοντά σας …..

Ευχαριστουμε πολυ!
Ξερουμε οτι ειστε παντα στην πρωτη γραμμη!

[thomas]

Νικη ειναι τα συναισθηματα που ζησατε
οι εμπειριες που καταχωρηθηκανε στον σκληρο δισκο του μυαλου σας
η αδρεναλινη που ξεχιλυζε στην καθημερινοτητα σας
πανω απ ολα η συμμετοχη σας
και ταυτοχρονα και η συμμετοχη ολων εμας μεσω αυτων που διαβαζαμε καθε ημερα.

Μπραβο σας . Συγχαρητηρια . Γουσταραμε πολυ

[κυριακος αθανασιου]

συμφωνω 100% με τον θωμα...

[eangelou]

Βρηκα αυτη την περιγραφη απο την ομαδα του Gigglepin.

ΑΠΟΛΑΥΣΤΕ την....

""""""""Croatia trophy 2013

“The Ultimate Euro Adventure”

May 2011

The roar is deafening as Team Gigglepin make their way down the marquee to receive the Croatia trophy 2011. The campaign has been amazing and after 8 long stages over 7 days the guys have beaten the best in Europe by 4.5hrs……

Fast forward 2 years………..

29th April 2013
11pm its dark and cold in England, the race cars are finally loaded and the team is in fine spirits enjoying a late evening meal and a few well earned beers grabbing 3 hours sleep before rising early to catch the 6.50 am train from Folkestone to Calais, France.
Its been a tough week as the race car only arrived back from the USA a few days before, leaving the Team only 7 days to rebuild the truck and get it race ready for this year’s Croatia 2013 campaign. Late nights, big mugs of steaming tea and plenty of loud music is just what was needed to keep morale high and the guys and girls do a fantastic job making sure that the car is best it can be.
The big change is the new Curries rear axle and we love it. We also have a new front axle but time gets away from us and it’s impossible to get it fitted in time. So we service the existing front Force 9 axle and we are ready for action!
There are changes in the team with top international racer Gary Smith crewing for Jim Marsden in the Team car in Trophy class, with Jonathan Hambro and Mark Birch fighting for the Adventure class trophy once again after superb 4th position in 2012. Iain Cherry is the camp chief and has the job of making sure everything is ship shape and ready for action!
It’s a 1000 mile drive to Staro Selo in Croatia, the small hamlet near the Bosnian border and with every mile travelled the weather gets warmer, the skies brighter and the smiles bigger. As we arrive at the camp site we are already changing into shorts and greeting friends from around the world as we pass their camps looking for somewhere to set up our base for the coming week.
We work hard and soon our three marquees look resplendent with flags, banners and bunting. The fridge is already cooling the beers as Jim and Gary head off into the forest to get some wheel time while the others lay out the tools and spares ready for the week ahead.
Preparation is everything, leave one weak link and this 7 day event will tear your car apart.
But the team are veterans, previous winners of this event and expectations are high.
The next day is signing on and scrutinnering and the guys made the most of the time available and headed to the monument about 20km up the road. This old building is only a relic of its former self, yet is still an amazing spectacle and as Gary leaned over the rails of the 6 storey building, he only then realised the size of forests they would be using in the coming week. Thousands of acres of rolling hills, gullies, rivers, water meadows and trees. It is simply breath taking.
Signing on completed and the new decals in place, it was time to get food and get some serious training done. After several training beers and a mixed grill that could have fed an army it was back to camp to wait the first day of action.
Day one is the prologue. This is a short 2km course to set the start order for the following day. It also allows the teams to vent their pent up energy as they get their first chance behind the wheel. Many spend the day watching, picking their event favourites and pointing out those that will be lucky to complete the first day of forest action.
The Adventure class cars are first away and leave the start line in groups of four, starting line abreast and gunning the engines to be the first to the sharp turn into the trees.
There are two car categories at the Croatia trophy, Adventure and Trophy. Both are well contested with nearly 60 plus vehicles in each class. The trophy cars have the toughest course and have the devils time in swamps, massive hill climbs and dense woodland. The Adventure often run the same course as Trophy but avoids the very worst parts of the road book. It’s not for the faint hearted and is still seriously hard core.
The adventure class cars are showing good pace on the prologue and it’s clear it’s not going to be an easy class to win with a large group posting very close times. With the Adventure class finished it was time for the quads. This year there are four two vehicle teams competing in ATV trophy class and they laid down a superb show as they tore up the prologue course in record time. With the quads finishing it was time for Trophy class. Gary had drawn the start number from the hat during drivers breifing and picked number 7, a good start position and one we hoped would allow us to control the pace.
As we sat and watched the first 4 trophy cars leave there was a rapid reminder of how fast things happen as two cars collide at the start, with the Maltese car being flipped on its side as the tyres grip and climb each other. Worrying stuff…..
The team has a game plan and don’t want to win the prologue, happy to be anywhere from 5th to 10th. The reason is simple, we want to chase on the first day to give Gary a chance to get to know the road book and also to try to catch some time on the cars in front. It’s very difficult to judge the speed, but Jim is an old hand and was confident that he could guess the pace.
The line-up is impressive with an Israeli G-wagon, a French tray-backed Nissan Patrol and a superb buggy from the Czech Republic taking their places either side of the Gigglepin Defender. The flag drops and engines roar. Team Gigglepin get ahead and then control the pace down the track to the swamp and the viscous hill climb that had caught out so many of the Adventure class. The big V8 made short work of the climb, with the Czech buggy in hot pursuit before rolling on the next off camber section. Backing off as they head for the line the Team are confident they have done enough to get the position they desire. But as the day wears on the course the gets tougher and several top end cars run badly leaving Team Gigglepin leading the pack and in first place for tomorrows start in the forests!

May 3nd

The sun is shining and leaves are bright with spring brilliance as the cars make their way to the start line. Early morning nerves replaced with expectation and excitement of what is to come. As we line up at the head of the impressive array of race vehicles from over 25 different countries and we breathe in the sights and sounds. Cuckoo’s, V8 engines and the shadows of hawks mixed with the wind and sun, it just does not get any better.
The clock ticks down. Helmets on, Cameras on, winches on, intercoms on, Difflock engaged, fans running. Gary is amazingly calm and I am reassured by his easy manner as the last few seconds pass.
3, 2, 1, GO !
It all starts well on the 52km stage, nice and controlled at a fast but safe pace. As we pass the 1km mark at about 50mph, I feel the car slide as the front end tries to escape down the bank, I hit the throttle and the car lifts its nose before the rear end slides away. Try as I might I run out of talent and cannot bring it back, we flick a tree and land on our side. I can’t believe we have rolled so near the start, but Gary knows the game and is out of the car in a flash and we right ourselves as the 2nd placed Ruel brothers sneak past. The good news is it seems we have only lost 2 minutes and we are soon back on pace passing them on a long downhill descent. The irony of the moment is just before the start, I had been warning a virgin UK team to take care on the first track as a Maltese team had rolled last year. I must remember to practise what I preach!
The car feels awesome and Gary is doing a great job with the road book. We clear check point one and I am starting to feel really confident. But soon the road book gets tougher with lots of short junctions and we make a mistake and have to retrace our steps. As we do so we notice the fans have stopped working and we are overheating. How fast fortunes change. We stop to find the problem and over the next 10 minutes 5 cars pass us before we can get back on the road. We pride ourselves on our vehicle preparation and were gutted to find a burnt out fan relay to be the cause of the problem. Fixed and back in the game we set about tracking down the cars ahead. It’s hard work catching and passing people in the forest and you have to remember that this is only the start of a long week of hard racing.
We pass the Boros Csaba only 2km from the finish and are the first Trophy class vehicle home, but adjusted time puts us in third place behind the two very experienced and classy Hungarian teams. To add to our worries there has been a rule change this year and if you win a stage you receive a 12 minute bonus, a 6minute bonus if you are second and a 3 minute bonus if you are third. Despite this we are over the moon with our start and happy to be in the top 3 heading towards Trophy day.

May 4rd

The Croatia trophy is a very social event with everyone eating in the same mess tent, everyone visiting each other’s camps for advice, drinks and laughs. One of the biggest ice breakers at this event is Trophy day. The concept is simple; you are divided into teams of 5 cars based on your event standings, with the top 5 going together then the next 5 etc… In our group we are teamed with the Hungarian ace’s Boros Csaba and Szilard Magyar, Jaap Betsema from Holland and Christian from Germany. A truly mixed bunch of great guys and all keen to get on it.
Trophy day consists of two team stages and an individual team stage, despite the pigeon English and the fact that none of us can understand Gary’s northern accent, we head to the first stage.
Stage one is spectacular and you have to make a double rope bridge across a 60metre lake and one co driver has to pull him or herself across before the team breaks it down and all the cars race to the finish line.
Great stuff and a real bit of old school Camel trophy style adventure. Gary swims across the lake with the winch cables while we organise the cable runs, with Boros’s co driver Mihaly Eigner doing the dare devil acrobatics on the rope. Being the first team is not an advantage and we make a few mistakes that we know the others will not, but trophy day times are low and unlikely to affect the overall standing as we head toward stage 2 in the blistering 30 degree heat. Stage 2 is a fast stage over uneven terrain that then requires some serious team work to get two vehicles around a nasty hill using only side winches. But this team is oozing class and the guys make short work of the stage and we all head towards the final individual section. We need to nail this as it’s a chance to take a few seconds out of the Hungarians and we have to make that count. Sadly the stage is disappointingly short with a 1/2km drive through the woods, dropping down a near vertical 30ft cliff before powering up and over a hill to the marshals’ at the finish. We put in the fastest time in our group but can only take a few seconds off the others. Time for lunch before heading back to camp to get ready for the night stage!

May 4rd 11.30pm
Night stage
The night stage is one of my favourites and we have always been lucky to post some fast times and win a fair few. This year we lined up once again, this time well down the pack after a poor result on Trophy day. Our start position of 12th would usually favour our style but with a lot of slower cars ahead and our main rivals behind us it was always going to be tough.
My Co driver Gary has never navigated on this kind of event, never mind at night! So it was paramount that we nail the road book and that I don’t drive like a maniac!
In a strange twist the organisers decide to send out the Adventure class cars first starting them only 30 minutes before Trophy class, this worries me as there is nothing worse than being caught behind a heap of slower cars or worse a car stuck with no way round !
But I put these thoughts to the back of my mind as we line up at 11.30 pm for the off. Before long the car in front of us roars off in to the night and we are sat counting down the 2 minutes until our start.
The first minute drags as always and then the second flies by as you check the car making sure everything is switched on or engaged.
Then its 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...... GO!
We start with awesome pace with the superb Lazer LED lights blazing in front and to the side of us. These new lights are amazing and are really making a difference. However all too soon it goes wrong. The very first tulip is incorrect and we find ourselves driving in circles for 20 minutes with many other cars trying to find the correct way..... When we finally find the route many other slower cars have guessed their way ahead of us and we are now in a procession of slower cars that is driving me mad! I try and try but just cannot get past in the tight wooded sections and with the stage only being 17km I have to get past fast if I am to make up the time we have already lost.
Just as I think it can’t get any worse I try to dive up the inside of the car in front and leave a doorway open for the enthusiastic German behind me... Ahhhhhhh! This is not going to plan and we are going backwards....
A kilometre later and the cars in front make a mistake and finally we get past and get straight on the loud pedal. It felt great to be moving free but this was short lived as we round a corner to find a steep sided gulley full of stationary cars waiting. The problem is an Adventure class car stuck in the centre of the gulley with a winch that just won’t pull. Not their fault as they are trying their hardest to get clear but it is costing us valuable time. We try to drive round the high side but are turned back by the marshals and we have to commit ourselves back into the gulley. Just as we do so a nutter from Hungary drops off the 50ft side wall and buries himself in the bottom removing his front axle! “What the Hell?!” We run over check he is ok and are still to this day trying to work out what he was trying to achieve. But he did do one good thing, he blocked the track which meant the marshals now had to let us drive around and get clear. A lot of pushing and shoving with vehicles going in all directions and we were clear! Once again we light up the forest with the awesome Lazer lights and the sound of our V8 and try to put some clear air between us and the other vehicles. Through a swamp and on to the fast forest tracks, I love this stage and can’t stop smiling.
A few kilometres more and we roar up behind a UK Adventure class car, they are driving well and fast, but not fast enough and we give them a quick beep of the horn to let them know our intention.
This makes him drive faster but he won’t move over..... We follow him for a few frustrating km without being able to find room to pass and the clock is ticking. We go from being polite to offensive and give every single candlepower we have straight through his back window while right on his bumper. But he still does not get the message despite us being millimetres from his rear and beeping the horn. I am not impressed that an Adventure class car is now actively holding us up when they have had plenty of chances to let us by. Another km passes and my mood darkens as it becomes clear that I am going to have to bully my way past. Then out of the blue he pulls over and waves us past “Hallelujah!”
In seconds we leave him for dead now releasing just how much he was holding us up as we blaze towards the finish. We pass more Trophy class and adventure class cars before bursting from the undergrowth to be the second trophy class car to finish the stage. However with adjusted time we take 6th place and the gap between us and Boros widens slightly yet again....
Tomorrow is Race day

May 5th
Race day
Race day is something for the speed freaks and the crowds. Its fast, it’s mad and usually plenty of vehicle contact, as teams hustle for the lead. Adventure head up the course and have to complete 4 laps of the 3km course with a compulsory tyre change that they can make during any lap.
The class is split in two and they start well. Sadly the weather worsens and what was a fast aggressive course becomes Hell with vehicles having to winch nearly every inch of the forest.
It’s taking forever and the weather shows no sign of letting up. All we can do is watch and wait.
It’s now 8pm with the light fading fast and still raining as we finally get our chance to line up. We are in the second row and boxed in tight. I know this is going to turn into a procession and I am desperate to get to the woods first but it’s not looking likely. The guys in front of us are not quick, but have a fast car and I am pinning my hopes on them making a good start. Not being one to take a chance I ask the guys to give it everything off the start, my hope that they can create a space I can break out of.
The flag drops and 16 vehicles surge forward downhill, halfway down the hill the formation breaks and I dive to the left and bury the pedal cutting in front of most of the field. Clear space! I roar round the outside but try as I might I can only be the third car to the wooded stage and I know that it’s just damage limitation from that point.
The course has been shortened from 6 laps to 3 laps due to the terrible weather and we cannot believe how slippery it is. As I head down the back straight the car spins in a full 360 at only 10mph, Incredible! I would love to tell you that we powered on and passed the others but the simple truth is we crawled round fighting the mud trying hard not break anything. Each lap we had to make two big winch pulls that must have looked fantastic in the trees with the lights blazing. We finish third once again behind the bad weather experts from Hungary. They love it as the bad weather is slowing down the faster cars and making it their race. We love racing these guys and the smiles on their faces tell the story as we cross the line. We need some sunshine and fast!

May 6th
Back to the forests
It’s a 54km stage and we are exactly where we want to be in third position, starting behind Boros and Szilard. We are now about 40 minutes behind and know that we have to make a jump up the leader board today if we are to give ourselves a chance of controlling the race. The good news is the rain has stopped and the forests are already drying.
The cars start at 2 minute intervals and we are expecting to find it hard work catching the lead cars and are rather surprised to pass both before we have travelled 5km. The tracks are seriously slippery and we are fighting to keep control. The tracks are thick with mud and places that in the past I have travelled at 50 or 60 mph we are fighting to do 10 or 15 mph ! This is where the Hungarians always have the advantage and use there lightweight vehicles with unbelievable skill to pick their way through the trees using fiddle brakes, portal axles and central tyre inflation to assist them, guiding the vehicles through the maze of trees, gullies and super slippery tracks. In the past I am used to leaving these guys in my dust but not this year as I fight to keep the vehicle on the tracks. We have opted for a very aggressive soft compound tyre and it is proving to be a real Jekyll and Hyde. If the forest is virgin its finds fantastic grip, if it’s been driven then they are worse than slicks making driving slow and dangerous.
The rivers are deep but prove little problem to us or our trusty Gigglepin winch and we solider on swapping the lead with Boros on many occasions knowing that we only have to finish less than four minutes behind him to take the stage. Racing through the woods we both burst out to a large water meadow, Boros takes the right hand line and we plough straight in hoping to catch a lucky break and dance across the heavy reeds. Not a chance! And we soon become the world’s biggest bog plough as we push a pile of reads and muck 5ft high and nearly 15ft across in front of the vehicle as we winch to the other side. The international press crews love it. Boros had the luck of the devil and picked his way round with total class taking a 4 minute lead on us. We light up the water meadows sending huge plumes of water flying as we fight to make up the time. At race kilometre 42 we come to a double river crossing. The water was still rippling from Boros’s exit. “I can see his wheel marks, he has driven it!” cries Gary as we arrive at the far bank. The river has a 4ft bank and then a drop into the unknown. Despite my years of experience Gary’s enthusiasm is infectious and I power into the water. What a mistake to make….
The water pours over the door tops and halfway up the windscreen and my chest “OH MY GOD”! I give it everything but the cold water is too much for the electrics and as the vehicle starts to climb out the engine cuts out. I can’t believe I have been so stupid; you NEVER drive into a river without first checking it. How fast fortunes change at this event.
Gary as quick as lightening sets the winch but the silt holds the old girl firm and the cable breaks under the huge load. Try as I might I cannot get the engine started, it’s not looking good.
Then Szilard arrives, his co-driver picks a line not 10ft from our car and they drive across hardly getting the tops of the wheels wet! Unbelievable….. Then something special happened, Szilard is fighting to win and knows that we are dead and buried if left in the water. He also knows that if he recovers us it could cost him the event. Gary asks him to help and to both of our amazements he instructs his co-driver to run out his rear winch. We hook our winch on to the back of his car and using both winches the car breaks free of the river. I even manage to get her started as she rises from the depths. “Fantastic! There is a God!” I run over and shake Szilard by the hand before watching him disappear round the corner as he fights to catch Boros.
We run round the car repairing the front rope and get back on it. The car is feeling fine but the drive belt is screaming and I am sure we have collected a heap of river stones in the pulleys. Sure enough 3 km later we have to stop as the fan belt burns out. This is where practise helps. We have a Peli-case tool box under the passenger seat and a Peli-case spares pack under the driver’s seat.
I have practised this many times and in less than 2 minutes we have a new fan belt fitted, tools stowed and back in the race. Love it!
But bad luck is hovering on our shoulder yet again and as we power down the tracks something attacks our windscreen shattering it dead set in the centre. Nothing we can do about it and we storm to the finish again losing time to those excellent Hungarians.

May 7th
70km forest stage.
Take 2. Here we go again starting in third place and even further behind the leaders. With only three days remaining we have got to do something if we are to stand any chance of winning. But we are far from despondent as the car feels great and we are in high spirits knowing that if we can get a clear run that we can outpace the cars in front.
The forests are drying fast and every hour it is getting better and better for us. We start well and once again catch and pass Szilard within the first few kilometres. Boros is also not far ahead and we are soon right behind, only a slight navigational error costing us 30 seconds. Today the track is tightly interwoven with the Adventure class and we have to pass a lot of vehicles. Most are incredibly polite and once they know who you are, pull over and kindly let you past.
At check point three we descend a steep bank passing round a deep mud run before getting our card stamped by the marshals’. We head off uphill and launch into another deep mud run. The lead car is only seconds ahead but the mud holds fast and we have to winch. Gary grabs the winch rope and runs to a pair of large trees struggling to get a 3 metre strop round the biggest. “Winch!” and I oblige raising the engine revs as the winch takes the strain.
“STOP WINCHING” screams Gary
I never saw the tree that hit me.... Gary shouted "You Ok?" and I replied "Yes, why?" then I saw the tree! I had watched the other tree miss the front wing by inches but was confused as to why the car shook. I was totally unaware of the 100ft tree lying on top of the racer! Then it was out of the car for a quick check around. As I got out I found a very nervous looking photographer call Martin Brink standing between the trees. He was a very lucky man and I suggested he should buy a lottery ticket as both trees had barely missed him! But like a true professional he had kept on shooting. To the amazement of the marshals and press, we hooked on the rear winch and got out from under the trees with the marshals shouting that they have chainsaws on route.... but the Croatia trophy is about speed and every second lost is critical. With that I put the hammer down and drive over the trees and off up the hill just pausing long enough to collect a very bewildered co driver. Great stuff!
Despite a battered roll cage the car is going great and forest tracks are drying quickly, I can’t stop smiling. A few kilometres of fast tracks and we arrive at a long forest hill littered with Trophy and Adventure class vehicles. With the obvious track blocked I worked through the cars feathering the throttle and nailing it over large fallen tree’s blocking our route up the long hill climb. Teams stopped and stared as our V8 Defender ripped the hill to pieces. We passed 12 cars and as we cleared the top we are grinning from ear to ear.
On the fast tracks Gary really had the navigation nailed and I knew we could only be seconds behind the leader and probably ahead on adjusted time. “60metres, 90 degree right downhill” is the call and I slow to make the change from high ratio to low ratio on the move and hammer down the steep slippery track to a vast boggy stream section. We pass yet more Adventure class vehicles and drop off a steep bank slamming hard into the bottom nearly rolling on to the roof! We have to be leading as this track has not yet been driven! Gary works like a greased eel and soon we are winching to clear ourselves of the clinging deep clay. “Mate something is not right” says Gary as he watches me extract the car from the mire “The front wheels are pointing in different directions”.
This is not good…. As soon as we clear the clay hole I dive out and we both tear at the colds of clay covering the axle trying to find the problem and praying it is repairable. All too soon we discover the outer C knuckle has cracked through. We both know it is the end of the road and the end of our event. We are gutted, distraught and emotionally drained. Only one thing for it…. breakout the sweets. We sit down and chill out for while watching the vehicles we had fought so hard to pass drive by. Most stopping, to kindly offer their help. But we know there is nothing they can do and we urge them to race on.
After 10 minutes it’s back to business and the hard task of getting the very broken car out of the forest. We only manage 30metres before the whole drivers side hub collapses while winching uphill and we have to remove the hub and recover the vehicle on three wheels. This is hell!
Having to turn the car using the winches on a steep hill, it takes nearly 40 minutes to get the old warrior to the top. Then it takes a further 2 hours to fight our way 2 km to the road. The weather has changed and it starts to rain. We are both wearing only race shirts and its starting to get cold. Gary runs 3 km in each direction but finds nothing. While we wait we only see a few stragglers and we wish them well as they pass. Then a moment of luck! Three Quads appear from the forest, one of them obviously in serious trouble. They stop for chat and offer to take one of us to see if we can find the camp. They also have no idea where they are and I jump behind the lead rider hoping to spot somewhere I might recognise. 10km later and I know where we are, 4 kilometres later and we are back in camp making preparations to collect a very sorry looking race car and Gary who must be freezing. The rain is now torrential as we drive through the forest to collect the racer.
We broke the car at 12.15pm, we did not recover it until gone 8pm in the evening.
But worse news was to come…. Nobody had heard from the Gigglepin Adventure class team, Jonathan and Mark. It was 12am before contact was made and Iain was led by the organisers to collect them and their stricken vehicle. Engine troubles ending their race. But we are not the only ones. The only ladies team Sigi and Jorien are also out with a blown engine and many other teams have retired as well. Only one thing for it... beer and sleep.

May 8th
We are gutted as we watch the vehicles leaving camp next morning and making their way to the start line, we wish them well and as if to taunt us the sun is blazing and the skies are blue. We start the long task of breaking camp.

May 9th

It’s the final day and the lead teams are not having it easy with a 50km stage to complete the event.
Boros the old master nearly gets it wrong and posts a terrible final time the only thing saving him is 2nd place blowing their turbo the previous day reducing them to a crawl through the forests.
Nick Anderson from the UK had a lucky escape when his car rolled on to its roof in a deep river, thankfully marshals were on hand to recover a very shaken Nick and his vehicle.
Many others had similar tales and at the end many cars only just limped across the line. Worthy survivors of this amazing event.

Prize giving and homeward bound
Every day during the event we are supplied with a fantastic breakfast, packed lunch and an excellent evening meal, but on the final evening the guys in catering wagon put on the best meal of the event.
The atmosphere is electric as people meet, greet and drink. Telling tales of bravery in the forest and how they were going faster than anyone else until…! Everyone is smiling and the drinks are flowing dangerously fast as the prize giving approaches. We always stay to the end of the event to show support for those that completed the course through those magnificent forests, gullies and water meadows. It is part of the experience and should not be missed.
All too soon it is time and each team is called up to collect their medals, before the top three in each class is announced, with the finale being the crowning of the new Trophy class champion. There is also the Spirit of the event award something that is coveted amongst the crews. This year it went to the Hungarian good guys Szilard Magyar and his co-driver Krisztain Kovacs Pippo, taking the award after showing remarkable sportsmanship recovering us from a river on day 4 when chasing for the lead.
Boros Csaba and Mihlay Eigner were the hugely popular winners of Trophy class with Szilard and Krisztian picking up their second award of the evening receiving 2nd overall in Trophy class. Russian team, Ruman Kulbak and Arkadiy Aronov taking 3rd overall.
Adventure class was dominated by the Russians with Vitor Stolyarchuk and Alex Shokhin taking 1stplace, Aleksey Bogodistov and Vladimir Kotelnikov taking 2nd place and the husband and wife team Alexander Tyurina and Nataliya Tyrunia bringing home 3rd place.
The party went well on into the night with a Croatian folk band providing some great music with a very drunk Champion Boros Csaba showing us his array of moves on the dance floor, very funny stuff.
The Croatia trophy is without doubt one of the finest events in the world, if you love offroading, friendship, adversity and amazing terrain, then this is where you need to be.

Many thanks to the Croatia Trophy organisation. Igor, Andjelko, Damir and their team of superb marshalls and helpers. The international press teams for telling the world about his event and of course to every team that brings the team spirit that makes it so special."""""""
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