TOTAL Trailblazers 4x4 Annual All Terrain Challenge:

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

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By Narend Sooknarine of Zorce Magazine

The day began in earnest with a 7am call time at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary. Mitsubishi L200s, Ford Rangers, Land Rovers, Range Rovers Suzuki Jimnys, Toyota Hiluxes, Mazda BT50s, and even a chop-top, netted-door Nissan Patrol were gearing up for a taste of the TOTAL Trailblazers 4x4 Annual All Terrain Challenge event. Last year there was so much rain that the King of the Hill had to be cancelled but this year, things seemed off to a great start.

For our media crew things would be particularly interesting as thanks to TOTAL Lubricants and Meguiar’s Car Care Products, we were afforded the use of a Polaris off-road, roll caged, tractor-tyred dune buggy with racing seats and a cooler strapped to the back. One game of rock, paper, scissors later and Duane of TriniTuner.com was selected as the driver while we took turns taking photos, literally hanging on just to get photos of "mid-splash" action of competitors 'motoring through the mud', try saying that five times fast. Although our guide in the Jimny up front said that the first stage was an easy drive, nothing more than what the club considers a grade one or two, one of the 4x4s with huge tires managed to get fully sideways, albeit in the same spot spinning them. He ended up fully across the road and then corrected the situation by reversing and re-orienting the vehicle– so much for grades one and two.

The next major section for competitors, besides finding an issue of Zorce along with Monster-branded er, population control "packet" and other treasure-hunt items, was the King of the Hill mandatory challenge. This was divided into two courses– novice and expert, with a few competitors swapping expected positions. It was very entertaining to see many drivers reach the very edge, some even with two wheels atop the steep expert summit, only to slide back down again with wheels so full of mud that retries proved futile. But yet again there were some who persisted or even took another try and managed to succeed. One or two novices on regular road tires genuinely got stuck, but thankfully there was a recovery tractor on standby along with the marshal's' hardy little Suzuki Jimnys. It was precisely at this point when we fully understood that the Meguiar's wash bay back at the start was not put there for style and branding. These boys and girls were out to get down and dirty. But the majority of the action was yet to come.

Back at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary highway exit, two massive mud pits, one novice and one expert, which took mud to the bonnet level, along with a slushy hill and a tight series of curves meant that any vehicle not dressed in murky brown would certainly have a healthy coat. This venue proved to be quite the spectator spot as many highway travelers stopped in to see what all the fuss was all about. Highlights included Drag Racing champion Sheldon Bissessar with Rally champion Ainsley Lochan at the wheel getting totally stuck in the expert pit and needing a Jimny to pull out the Jimny that was pulling them out of the pit– yes three vehicles in tandem– TOTAL mud madness! After being pulled out and over the hill, they decided to engage in a bit of tug-o-war with the marshal's recovery vehicle. Also worth mentioning is the V8-powered Patrol that conquered both the King of the Hill and the mud pit at an unusually moderate pace. A few entries found out what it was like to have a mud flood and what it feels like to get pulled out backwards. All in all it was a day of total fun and after a visit to the Meguiar’s wash bay, it was time to start the prizegiving ceremony. (Results posted below the photos)

This event was sponsored by:


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OVERALL WINNERS COMP. of Points     Name of Driver  Name of Co-driver

1st     61      640     Suraj Bissoon   Kenrick Alexander

2nd     02      730     Latiff Khan     Reshma Nanan
3rd     64      750     Kevin Ramroop   Brandon Ramroop

4th     07      760     Ainsley Lochan  Rajesh Jairam
5th     10      820     Rishi Maharaj   Surendra Dhanraj
6th     25      830     Navin Ramdass   Shivanath Rajnath
7th     71      880     Darron Dass     Riaz Mohammed
8th     22      910     Barry Gowandan  Sarah-Jane Gopaul
9th     49      960     Fawaz Mohammed  Ishwar Patel
10th    31      1060    Marlon Birjar   Keegan Sookhan

[t_ramp]

.
Thanks to the organizers for a great show today.
here are just two of many gems ...mudhogs indeed.





regards to all.

[droppa]

Rally was great, did not do as was expected, but still get sumtin, was mad fun, now let the cleaning begin.........

aye HY, i see u took a drink boi and like yuh get unconcious, and the ironman had to give u some cpr, but yuh get back up good and going man, nice job.........who say snorkel???

patiently awaiting pics, saw gerry and LT there, so i know some high quality shots in the making......

[Rx]

* sigh...

I was unable to attend/ participate ......... eagerly awaiting pics......

[HaRdCoRe_YoUtH]

Rally was great, did not do as was expected, but still get sumtin, was mad fun, now let the cleaning begin.........

aye HY, i see u took a drink boi and like yuh get unconcious, and the ironman had to give u some cpr, but yuh get back up good and going man, nice job.........who say snorkel???

patiently awaiting pics, saw gerry and LT there, so i know some high quality shots in the making......

Snorkel for reall!!

Man I owe Mr James a whole lot! He knows how the 4x4 world is and seeing that he helped out so much! I will be taking a snorkel, lift kit, front bumper and some other stuff! Man i knw i would have sucked in water but "go hard or go home"!!! lolzz

Frontier performed really well and did exceptionally well on the king of the hill climb!

ALSO i help tow people up the hill after the king of the hill event! Frontier working like a mini tractor!......

[chucky]

Some pics from yesterday. More to come.

[chucky]

Some more

[chucky]

Again

[chucky]

Some more

[chucky]

King of The Hill

[chucky]

More King of the Hill

[chucky]

Mud Hog

[3stagevtec]

Nice pics.. Makes me vex I couldn't make it..

[Rx]

sweet pics !!!!!!!

[civic minded]

I was real surprise the hilux with the 20" rims made it thro

[sliderz1]

the mahindra is 4wd?

[HaRdCoRe_YoUtH]

Me doing King of the Hill while RAIN falling!!
The rain made that place really bad....

Everyone thought that i would not have made it up the hill!...All u hearing in the background when the announcer asked if i was going to make it was "NO"

lolzz......

[droppa]

tractors wukking dey boi......

well done....

[3stagevtec]

Wow, flew up that hill with ease!

[civic minded]

Tractor tires was key to make it up that hill after the rain and mudds was the order for the novice hill!

[kevinsonny]

d man make all 4x4 frontier owners proud dey bai! big up!!!!!!!

[AutoSport]

Heard this was a really great event that is now demanding a firm date on the annual Motor Sport calendar.

Congrats to all involved.

But why those flat roads looking so similar to what we used to rally through back in the 80's with our ordinary Rally Cars, simply fitted with a sump shield and some M/S tyres?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Me doing King of the Hill while RAIN falling!!
The rain made that place really bad....

Everyone thought that i would not have made it up the hill!...All u hearing in the background when the announcer asked if i was going to make it was "NO"

lolzz......

I was standing up right next to Robbie and Narend and I too was thinking you wouldn't make it, especially in the rain, since most people didnt make it in the dry!
and on top of that you just walk up that hill normel normel lol

sorry yuh didnt make it through the mud pit

[HaRdCoRe_YoUtH]

Me doing King of the Hill while RAIN falling!!
The rain made that place really bad....

Everyone thought that i would not have made it up the hill!...All u hearing in the background when the announcer asked if i was going to make it was "NO"

lolzz......

I was standing up right next to Robbie and Narend and I too was thinking you wouldn't make it, especially in the rain, since most people didnt make it in the dry!
and on top of that you just walk up that hill normel normel lol

sorry yuh didnt make it through the mud pit

Yeh mud pit was crazy...lolz...Thank god for James Mosley for helping me get the van back up running to head home.

U knw i still studying u and the "D plates"..how u had to have the hold it up while driving....lmao!!!

BTW

I hear the mud pit event will be shown on SNERGY TV TONITE AT 9 PM.

[Rx]

Me doing King of the Hill while RAIN falling!!
The rain made that place really bad....

Everyone thought that i would not have made it up the hill!...All u hearing in the background when the announcer asked if i was going to make it was "NO"

lolzz......

awesome !!!!

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

U knw i still studying u and the "D plates"..how u had to have the hold it up while driving....lmao!!!

lol the back plate was still on

[sliderz1]

Or frontier with my tractors on!!!...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FTW!!!

[droppa]

Me doing King of the Hill while RAIN falling!!
The rain made that place really bad....

Everyone thought that i would not have made it up the hill!...All u hearing in the background when the announcer asked if i was going to make it was "NO"

lolzz......

I was standing up right next to Robbie and Narend and I too was thinking you wouldn't make it, especially in the rain, since most people didnt make it in the dry!
and on top of that you just walk up that hill normel normel lol

sorry yuh didnt make it through the mud pit

Yeh mud pit was crazy...lolz...Thank god for James Mosley for helping me get the van back up running to head home.

U knw i still studying u and the "D plates"..how u had to have the hold it up while driving....lmao!!!

BTW

I hear the mud pit event will be shown on SNERGY TV TONITE AT 9 PM.

yeah some clips were shown, i jus saw the clip with the white patrol walking tru, looked rel bess, and felt good to see that the offroading is picking up in Trinidad....trailblazers have brought this sport and competition to where it is.....

[stingray316]

Synergy make that pit look easy, everything they show was going thru with ease...

[wagon r]

...just a few.