Soliholic

Yes thats fine!

Entry list for round 1 as of today 11.3.2010, these are the people who have completed an entry form for the first round and paid! If your name does not appear on here and you think it should then please call. I have alot of people who have completed a registration form but not an entry form. Team 1 Nick Anderson and Neville Hudd Team 5 Aln Willcocks and Daniel Willcocks Team 6 Steve Beck and Adrian Dayley Team 7 Michael Gill and Simon Case Team 9 Peter Roberts and Ben Burge Team 10 Ben Champion and Martin Champion Team 11 Philon Parpottas and Alex Parpottas Team 14 Andrew Beck and Dominic Flitney Team 15 Daniel Thompson and James Taylor Team 17 Kevin Moss and Tom Fall Team 18 Brad Fox and Nick Gardner Team 19 Andy Nash and Dan Elias Team 21 Stan Lawrence and Steve Parrot Team 25 Matt Squirrell and Tony Nason I have 28 teams registered but only 14 teams paid, please, please could you get your paperwork to me. If you have any queries please call on 01252 325930 or 07836 713677.There is still places available. Thanks Lucy xx

Hi all.. We are hosting a Show`n`Shine and open day at our workshops in Tongham primarily aimed at those competing in our series, idea being that it will give competitors a chance to meet before the series starts in a non competetive environment & not rushing off to get home!. We would like anyone who is entering the series to bring their truck along or anyone who has something a bit different or interesting for others to drool over. But we do understand that a lot of cars won`t be ready the night before an event let alone 3 weeks early so if not then just bring yourself along anyway for a jolly! BUT...please,please,please if you want to show your truck let me know in advance so we can be sure of having enough room as we are already having lots of interest via our facebook group...Challenger 4x4.!! Everyone else is welcome to attend even if not competing just to have a look round some very nice vehicles We will get as many interesting trucks as we can fit in the yard. We will have refreshments. We will have coverage from at least one 4x4 mag. We will have special offers & discounts. We will have a prize for best turned out truck. We will maybe have the twist off ramp out...its just a H&S nightmare!! Let me know if you want to come along! Saturday 6th March from 9.30 at our workshops in Tongham Surrey GU10 1AJ Regards Paul

Hi all.. We are hosting a Show`n`Shine and open day at our workshops in Tongham primarily aimed at those competing in our series, idea being that it will give competitors a chance to meet before the series starts in a non competetive environment & not rushing off to get home!. We would like anyone who is entering the series to bring their truck along or anyone who has something a bit different or interesting for others to drool over. But we do understand that a lot of cars won`t be ready the night before an event let alone 3 weeks early so if not then just bring yourself along anyway for a jolly! BUT...please,please,please if you want to show your truck let me know in advance so we can be sure of having enough room as we are already having lots of interest via our facebook group...Challenger 4x4.!! Everyone else is welcome to attend even if not competing just to have a look round some very nice vehicles We will get as many interesting trucks as we can fit in the yard. We will have refreshments. We will have coverage from at least one 4x4 mag. We will have special offers & discounts. We will have a prize for best turned out truck. We will maybe have the twist off ramp out...its just a H&S nightmare!! Let me know if you want to come along! Saturday 6th March from 9.30 at our workshops in Tongham Surrey GU10 1AJ Regards Paul

Hi Lucy here, You would be novice class and as long as your car has no diff lockers and only one winch you will be in Class 2. Hope this helps. Lucy x

Only if your car is a softtop or has no roof.

Hi, There will be overnight camping at all sites, we have cate rers arranged for each site aswell.( probably Sunday only) The only hitch is that Somerley Estate charge £10 per caravan/coach/tent for overnight camping, I am not charging this it is just something that they do. Those who did the Mike Wolfe will know this. Paul has competed at both of these sites and he does not think that there will a problem for the coach but I will be calling Somerley tomorrow so I will check and I will get the situation checked for Yarwell aswell. Keep you posted. I will also put up postcodes for all the sites as soon as I have them. Another thing that I forgot to say is that I have LRM on board this year. I chap called Charlie Thorne is going to be coming to every round to take piccys and to do a write up. I was disappointed with the lack of exposure last year as I know how you all love seeing your vehicles in the mags!!!! Thanks for the questions, I will keep you posted. Lucy xxx

Hello all, I have finally got sites booked for the series. Unfortunately due to site availability I have had to change the date of round 2 back to 16th May. We changed it as it originally clashed with the King of the Traybacks trophy but as that has now been cancelled Mr Nick has kindly given up the booking with Coney Green farm to us as they had no availability for any of our dates. So to confirm the dates and locations are as follows: 28th March - West Harptree 16th May - Coney Green Farm 27th June - Somerley Estate, Ringwood 1st Aug - Slindon 19th September - Tixover 24th Oct - Yarwell I would like to take this oppurtunity to clarify a few other points. You DO need a valid MOT to enter but you DO NOT need tax. (We will be asking for MOT's at scrutineering) It is £60 per round to enter or £320 to pre enter the series. (The same as last year) All of our events are held at one site you will not be required to trailer from site to site!!! I have received quite a few registration forms if you wish to enter any or all of the rounds please call me or email for a form. The forms are also available to download on the AWDC website. Look forward to seeing you all again this year. Thanks Lucy x 01252 325930 07836 713677 sales@challenger4x4.com lucybassbass@yahoo.co.uk P.S Apologies for the date change, I really had no choice if we wanted each round at a different site!

After much deliberation we have decided to retain the handicap system that we used this year. I know that a few of the more experienced teams felt that it was a bit unfair towards the end of the series when the novice teams had improved so much, it was very difficult for you to win. We do appreciate this and because of this we have put some minor tweaks in place. Firstly we will be putting those of you who have competed before in the correct catorgory by using the average punch count system, we will make these figures public so everyone can see were they will be placed. For people who are new to the series we will be using the same honesty sytem as before and asking them to tell us what previous experience they have. But we will reserve the right to change our decision at any time if we feel it is necessary. We hope that you will be happy with the decisions we have made and as always we will try and keep the competition as fair as possible for all that are involved. Also as you may already be aware another change we have made is that although vehicle will have to be MOT'd, Tax and Insurance is NOT necessary. We felt that it is a big expense for people to tax and insure a vehicle that is in most cases trailered to an event. I will be forwarding later today registration forms for all that have already requested them but if you haven't and would like one please either call me on 07836 713677 or email on sales@challenger4x4.com or lucybassbass@yahoo.co.uk . Also if you have any questions or moans please don't hesitate to call me. I will be publishing the average punch score table in the next couple of days so that you can all see where you stand. Thanks and happy new year Lucy xxx

Had a great day!! Many thanks to the SLRC for putting it on, and a particular thank you to the bloke (and daughter) in the blue Suzuki for giving us all a laugh in the lake! Paul

After speaking to a few people recently regarding some of the regs for the series, one thing is for definite and that is the requirement of a valid MOT certificate! Last season the regs were that each car had to be road legal...MOT, Tax & insurance & proved to be quite an expense for some. So the decision has been made that only MOT is required. The main reason is purely as a simple dividing line on the level of car competing. We are still debating how to fine tune the handicapping system and will let everyone know as soon as possible. Paul

If you think the trailer is good you should see the event for real mate, it is everything they say and more. Without doubt the hardest event i have ever done...on mind, body & vehicle but at the same time an awesome adventure that you will remember for the rest of your days!! Cant wait for next year!!

And those four blokes at the end look familiar!! Cant wait for the full length DVD

These are the dates we have set for next years series, if you received them at the weekend you will see that the May date has changed as it clashed with "The King of the tray backs". We have tried to avoid any other events and hopefully no more changes will have to be made. Dates are as follows: Round 1 - 28th March 2010 Round 2 - 23rd May 2010 Round 3 - 27th June 2010 Round 4 - 1st August 2010 Round 5 - 19th September 2010 Round 6 - 24th October 2010 You will be pleased to know that I have avoided mothers day and fathers day next year!!!! Locations are to be confirmed. If you wish to register yourself for either a single event or the series please e-mail me and I will send you a registration form and you will be allocated with your team number for the series. As explained yesterday we are having a meeting in a couple of weeks to confirm structure of the series regarding handicaps etc. Look forward to hearing from you. Lucy xx email : sales@challenger4x4.com phone: 01252 325930 or 07836 713677

Hi Lucy here, I apprieciate that you were not at the event yesterday but I provided everyone with a letter to explain how the handicap system will be worked out next year. As we have one series figures to go by we are now able to see how good people actually are and we are going to handicap people according to your average punch count for this year. We will keep the same system as we have now for anyone new coming into the series. I have tried to be as fair as possible to all that are taking part and I have had to rely this year on people being honest with me about what they have done previously. We do not take this lightly and an awful lot of effort has been put into the organisation of the series and it has been a big learning curve for all of us this year. I have come to realise that I am obviously never going to be able to please everyone, if I make it better for the experienced people then the novices will be annoyed and vice versa. We have considered putting out more punches but as Paul generally only has one other person helping set out this puts a lot more pressure on him at the beginning and the end of the event. We have also considered having punches worth a different amount of points depending on how many people get them but from a scoring point of you that would be a nightmare, and Sara and I would still be working out the scores when you were all tucked up in bed. We have had 2 meetings so far about what we are to do next year and I sometimes wonder if it is worth it! Another suggestion has been that we have three seperate classes and class 1 & 2 within them but would you all be happy for your entry fee to increase to accomodate the extra trophies, prizes, paperwork etc!!! We did take into consideration both members of the team that is why Dan and Adrian were considered to be experts which was obvoiusly the correct decision if they are clearing up with an hour to go !!! We are still undecided as to the percentage handicap and other details we are going to use, we have spreadsheets coming out of our ears, I do hope that nobody will not enter because of the decision we have made, we must also always consider that is supposed to be a clubman event so if our decision is swaying towards the more experienced people we would be putting off the people that this series has been designed for. I apologise for ranting. If you or anyone has any queries or moans I will always try to answer them you only have to pick up the phone!!!!! Lucy xxx

Update so far: Wednesday day, Paul had a really carp day, he and Kristian have never worked together before and Kristian has never competed in such a high profile event before so felt a bit out of his depth. The pressure got to them both and quite a few silly mistakes were made which left Paul and Kristian very frustrated!!!! Martin and Graham and Jim did well during the day but Martin had a really bad stomach and did the day sections but pulled out of the night stage. After the day stage the running order for team GB was Jim 2nd, Martin 5th and Paul a lowly 8th. The night stage was very similar to one of last years, but Paul and Kristian did well on this and got one of the fastest times!! Cars all good, mood moderate. x Thursday day, alot of technical sections today , Paul and Kristian were just behind Martin and Graham so they have been supporting each other all day, which Paul is pleased about, Paul did a CV but apart from that no breakages. Finished fairly early and went back to camp. The pressure had lifted a bit today so things have gone alot better. Running order after yesterday are: Jim 2nd, Paul 4th and Martin 12th. Will update again as soon as I know. Lucy x

After competing in the Rainforest challenge Murca last year Paul felt that he must return this year to see if he could do better than 3rd and spirit of the event as he got last year. Team Challenger 4x4 has changed this year, due to new baby Neville was not able to co drive for Paul, so Paul has taken on the help of Kristian Larsson from Sweden who Paul met in Morrocco last year and who has competed in a few of our events since then. Hopefully they will do well for us. Jim Marsden from Gigglepin is also competeing with Martin Birch (i think!!!!) and Martin Stainer and Graham Mitchell are also representing the UK. They left home Sunday morning and arrived in Portugal late Monday, yesterday they got through scrutineering and then had a long boring wait until the start at 11pm. In this event you must carry all your spares with you at all times and at scrutineering a list of what you have in compiled, during the competition if you are seen fixing your car with something other than what is on your list then you must tell them where you got it from and they cross it off of that persons list, even tyres are marked !!! They started the first special stage last night and it was a series of three sections which by all accounts was fairly easy but just took ages as there was so many people to get through, about 30 cars I think, this part wasn't agaist the clock and from what I understand it didn't go towards the scores in anyway. They finished at 4.45am and then started again this morning at 10am. i have no more news today as yet, I will keep you posted!!!

Excellent... just what we wanted team working together. Plenty of oppurtunity for p%*s taking!!!

Bit of a long shot at this short notice but we desperately need a co-driver for Kristian . He is coming over from Sweden for the event & his usual buddy is unavailable..... Real nice bloke & good fun will be had! Any takers ? ...good, bad or ugly!! Paul

The reason there wasnt a 480 score was that if you got a penalty within the special stage the 50 points would be taken off of your special stage score which would have left a score of 430. Not sure who came second and as it is peeing it down outside and the scores are still on the caravan I am not able to see at the mo!!! I have a feeling it may have been Jim and Philon as i know they got a couple of penalties for going through tape. Hope this makes sense. Lucy xxx P.S Glad you all had a good time it makes the nightmare month I have had seem worthwhile. x

Eventually got back last night, we stayed an extra day to get the gear cleared away & chill a bit after the very busy weekend !!. It is great to see all the positive comments on here & from all those I have spoken to since, it makes it all worthwhile. Although it was a fantastic weekend it was an awful lot of hard work by only a few people to make it happen & we are very lucky to have such a dedicated team behind us...Thank you all!! Well done to Steve & Mark..a well deserved win despite our best efforts to get you a hangover for Sunday Dan (Roll over) Beethoven must be improving as he nearly done a whole weekend without rolling...nearly!! but then what chance does he stand when teamed with Adrian (turtle) Turner And what about that mud Paul

The "night" stage starts in the evening but it will be dark by the end!! I dont have the regs with me but I think it ends at 10 o`clock....or mabe 11 I know we dont go on too late as we like to have a bit of a social on the saturday night!! which in itself could be seen as a bit of a special stage! Paul

bad news I am afraid, they thought they would have an easier day today as they had to finish by 4 but no it was still really really hard. It has been the most extreme and most dangerous event any of them have had to do and after having no sleep last night and being faced with another 1000ft vertical winch climb up the side of a mountain the boys decided that they couldn't do any more. They would have been putting themselves in danger to carry on. So they sacked it, they are all gutted now but feel that they did really well to do as well as they did, they are all in one piece and so are the trucks. Apparently people who have done it before are saying that they have winched more in just one section than they did over the complete event in previous years. The weather had alot to do with this, tracks washed away and slippery rocks etc. I think that if they had been in higher standing this morning they probably would have continued but hey I am proud of them whatever, and knowing the boys like I do I think it must have been pretty mental for them to give up. But they have had a really good crack and they can now say they have done it but don't think they will be going again. Real shame. They are at the presentation now so as soon as I know the overall scores I will post them up. Lucy x