Jungle Fever

It's not what you've got, it's what you do with it, that's how I look at it," says a bemused Martin Lewis. "My little 2.5 has got nowhere near the power of the big engines, though I just beat them occasionally." In extreme off-road driving, engine size does matter, but even more important is how you apply all that power. And Martin's 2.5-litre turbo-diesel Land Rover hasn't done too badly either (8th overall, in a field littered with 4-litre behemoths).

We were camped by a clear mountain stream, deep in the jungle of Pahang, participants in the annual Rainforest Challenge (RFC). Part Camel Trophy-style expedition, part competition, the event attracts offroad enthusiasts from all over the world. Last year almost 50 two-person teams battled it out in the remote jungle heartland of Peninsular Malaysia. The rules were simple: any modified 4x4 was allowed (there were four categories of engine sizes), as long as it was street legal, and participants travelled in convoy along abandoned logging tracks to a number of campsites. In between, they competed in special stages (SSs) which were essentially races against the clock, with DNF (Did Not Finish) times ranging from a few minutes to almost an hour. They got a maximum 100 points for being the fastest in each SS, but would lose points for infringing safety rules (e.g. not wearing gloves when winching, hitting marker poles).

Today was day 5, halfway into the event (which covered a total of 600km). It was one of the easier days, with only a couple of SSs, so competitors got a chance to relax a little, even do some spannering and welding. Teams were widely spread throughout the field, and by lunch-time over half had still not arrived. It had been a gruelling five days for most participants, playing catch-up while having to deal with stifling heat, insect bites and equipment breakages. Even the first few SSs had taken a heavy toll on both man and machine.

Martin's experience was typical. "We had an early problem with the cylinder head gasket. We limped in to the Shell station in Felda Selancar on day 4, sat there for 10 hours. We had a gasket brought up from KL and proceeded to work all night, stripped it out and rebuilt it, drove the rest of the night to get to the campsite. We had no sleep and waited around all day to get in to the SS." Seasoned campaigner James Wong, co-driver to Voon Ken Yeang (they won the 1995 TransPen, precursor to the RFC) had also had a bad hair day. "Only a cup of tea and a Power Bar all day, no time to cook, no time to rest, and today we did five SSs after a long transport stage, then the winch broke." James and Voon were lying third overall, but were later to slip a few places down the leader board.

Englishman Simon Buck, an early favourite but now languishing behind some local hotshots and Thai Suthat Chambunlue, was upbeat about his chances, even after breaking two CVs, one of which had cost him a lot of time. "I'm a competitive person by nature, and yes it's a great adventure, but I'm here to take a point away from the Aussies. They have a good car, they are coming in fast now.

"For this event, you need a bit of luck. We're still a long way, anything can happen. A lot of the leading teams have had problems -- DNFs, breakages. We're not giving up." Prescient words: Simon's calm confidence and consistent performances would later clinch him and co-driver Matthew Cook the overall winner's trophy five days later. The Australians, winners of the last three RFCs, were having problems of their own. Kym Bolton and Philip Schott were having to play catch-up right from day 1 when their Nissan Patrol suffered a dropped axle.

Old hands, with better knowledge of local conditions, already know what works and what doesn't in the brutal terrain. "You need a well-sorted vehicle," explained Simon, who was on his fourth RFC outing. "You need to be able to accommodate 35" tyres, you need diff' locks, a good winch, long-range fuel tanks, snorkel, underbody protection. A GPS is handy."

But you can never be fully prepared for the rain, which can ruin the best-laid plans. Martin had fond memories of the 1999 event, when half the competitors were stranded in the jungle for four days. "That was a good year," he said. "The weather was against us, we had non-stop rain all the way from from Johor to the Cameron Highlands, right through the deepest part of the jungle and back to Kuantan. But every year seems to be drier and drier. Still, whatever happens, we should enjoy it. We know what we've come out for."

On SS6, which involved crossing a stream with a vertical bank, five winches broke. Stages 8-11 had also been very difficult, and took four days to complete instead of the two expected, although the drivers must have enjoyed some parts of them. "SS8 was great, fabulous for the drivers," said Aussie photographer Mike Ellem. "The surprise factor of an event like that -- you come round the corner, you don't know what's in front of you but away you go, the energy and adrenalin really get pumping. But SS9 was a big chaos, the track changed too much too quickly. It doesn't take too many cars to make it easy for the cars behind."

Even going to the SS took some effort, although you did not need brute power to tackle some stages. "The transport stage from campsite to SS13 can be a real breaker," warned competition manager Thomas Foo on day 5. "You go through several creeks and depressions. SS13 is a deep river crossing with a DNF of 40 minutes, although the entire stage is only 400m. It's all about applying the correct power and choosing the right line. Again, it's skills that count."

Already the top teams were distancing themselves from the stragglers. Whilst some opted for a DNF at SS13, the fastest did it in only 1:30. Similarly for SS14 (a steep uphill climb with metre-deep ruts), finishing times varied from under a minute to over 10 minutes. A few cars just toppled over or slid further down the hill as their winches gave way. But with a good run-up many made it half-way up before the going got too tough. That was when the hill came alive with shouts in several languages as engines coughed and groaned, winches and snatch blocks came out and co-drivers looked for the best line. One minute it was "paraya, paraya" ("this way, this way" in Portuguese), the next it was "Ozzie, Ozzie", and then of course "kiri, kiri" ("left, left" in Malay).

But the most exhilarating part of the RFC was still to come. Curiously, only 10 cars attempted the last section, the so-called "Lost World" featuring the "Mother of All Log Bridges", which press coordinator Zaini Shaarani had warned could be a "frightening experience". Those who went had the trip of their life. "Best piece of jungle I have seen," said experienced eventer Pete Codd. "Coming here is such an adventure, the idea of being several days away from civilisation. It's my fourth time here, for me there's something magical about the jungle.

"The log bridge was great, but the highlight had to be the top of the Lost World, the view was absolutely spectacular, you could see the tree canopy and the mist rising. You had to stop and savour, it was really beautiful."

Jose des Santos, echoing a common perception among the European participants, could not agree more. "This is what we came to Malaysia for. Our last two days were also the best days of the event."

The rainforest component was what drew these Europeans to travel half-way round the world with their cars to join the RFC (and paying US$2000 entry fee per team). The competition side, though, will probably still be a big drawcard for others. As Chris Hummer, alternate competititon manager and a previous RFC competitor said: "What a fantastic event, finally somebody was able to take the trophy from the Aussies. Simon and Matthew were popular and deserving winners, and they are excellent sportsmen. This year's organisation was a 100 per cent improvement over last year, but we'd be very happy to receive positive remarks from competitors to enable us to improve next year."

And come what may, the competitors will come, if only to improve on their placings. Norila Mahmud and Rosafidah Rahim, the top women's team (and a creditable 37th overall), have vowed to come back better prepared, and with a better car than their borrowed Jimny. The Beijing team said they would bring a bigger car next time around, after the drive shaft on their China-made Land Wind broke. The Thais had a good outing this year (Suthat Chambunlue/AnuwatSuaiklang took third overall) and no doubt will come back to give the locals, especially runner-up Francis Khoo/Shahrul Bahrin of Petronas Adventure Team and Liew Keng Lam/Kow Tuck Keong (Simex, fourth overall) a run for their money.

All of which has left Simon Buck with no choice. "I'll have to come back and defend my title, won't I?" he quipped.