Introduction

Mahindra concluded the first ever Thar Fest on August 5th and 6th in Goa. Adding professional competition to the Thar Fest was the second edition of the Mahindra Adventure Club Challenge. As many of you know, the Club Challenge is where participants from 10 different off-road clubs from across come to show who is boss at the slush filled competition area near Dona Paula in Goa. For the Challenge, each team had three vehicle entries in the Stock, Modified and Pro-Modified category.

The Thar Fest also had competitions but was on the lighter side, owners participated in basic challenges like the Strong Thar Contest and Deep Trench Challenge and there was an award for the Best Modified Thar as well. We, the media, were also given a go in Mahindra’s demo Thar in a separate round of ‘media-only’ Strong Thar Competition.

Club Challenge 1 – Pass the Baton

Pass the Baton was the first challenge of the event held in the night of August 5th. This challenge saw a lot of breakdowns including a clutch cable getting snapped but they always managed to resume play as soon as possible. In this event all three Thars had to synchronize to pull a bundle of logs tied together with chains through rutted trenches and slush-pit, uphill climb negotiating corners. This obstacle was won by Gerrari Off-Roaders.

Club Challenge 2 – Trench Trouble

Trench Trouble was more of an individual fitness test rather than an auto related one. It involved dismantling all four wheels and putting the vehicle on stands. After that, the tyres were required to be carried to the top of the trench in four different directions with the second team collecting it and putting it back on the vehicle and recovering themselves from the trench. Gerrari Off-Roaders scored themselves victory in this challenge as well.

Club Challenge 3 – Goal!

The third obstacle was ‘Goal!’ even though it was not the most involving or technical, participants appeared to be having a great time competing. They were put in a slushy field with the aim to play football with their Thars and score a goal using the tyres and bumpers in the least amount of time possible. The ‘team of the match’ for this football derived event was BODA (Bangalore Off-Road Development Authority).

Club Challenge 4 – Trench Trouble 2

The fourth challenge was a second round of Trench Trouble and won by V5 Coorg Off-Roaders. This obstacle was significantly more technical as it involved the modified vehicles of the team to pick up the flags through the course. These flags were strategically placed so that it would be as difficult as possible for competitors to collect the flags.

Club Challenge 5 – Bus Stop

Bus Stop was the final challenge and definitely the most difficult, jointly won by V5 Coorg Off-Roaders and Gerrari Off-Roaders. This task required the teams to work together with props like a ladder and spare tyres to help their vehicles climb over a bus, water tanker and other vehicle debris. This event was by far the crowd favourite as it featured the most carnage and aggressive ‘monster truck’ like action.

Club Challenge – Winners

The defending champions BODA (Bangalore Off-Road Development Authority) passed the overall winner trophy to V5 Off-Roaders from Coorg. They were closely followed by Gerrari Off-Roaders Chandigarh while the 2nd runner up title was won by Team Flywheel from Kerala. If you are wondering how V5 took the win over its Gerrari it’s because they stood at a higher position on average and had a higher standing in the points table.

Thar Fest

Highlights of Thar Fest included the Thar Parade, and various Thar Off-Road Challenges were held like the Strong Thar Contest and Deep Trench Challenge and other awards like Best Modified Thar were also given. We, the media, were also given a go in Mahindra’s demo Thar in a separate round of ‘media-only’ Strong Thar Competition. The challenge had us pull three logs tied up behind our Thars and pull through a slushy section and a water body. All participants were judged on the basis of line of attack, vehicle speed and vehicle preservation.

Epilogue

The Mahindra Adventure Club Challenge and Thar Fest proved to have way more action than I expected. There was not an hour to waste in the two-day period involving a variety of challenges and events. Good trucks, good tracks, good food, and good music what more can one ask for!