Formula Off Road World Cup
The second day in Finland is the fourth Formula Off Road World Cup event in 2006.
After a night of little sleep for many contenders - who were fixing their trucks - the competition will be tough.
Weather is cloudy and the forecast is for some showers. Lucky for all it stays dry for the most part.
This certainly seems like a fitting ride for the president of 4x4OffRoads.com! A lifted Cadillac on 49 inch tires with Unimog axles and steering front and rear. Unfortunately this is only built for show and is not street legal.
Here is another toy. A little smaller but incredibly fun RC Formula OffRoad truck. It has pretty similar characteristics as the full size versions.
Like yesterday the race starts with the Modified Classs. The trucks in Modified Class use less efficient tires. They are marked with yellow numbers and the gates have a yellow marker on the left side.
Ansi Oivanen from Finland starts the first track and is right among the top players for most of the tracks...
...this roll in the fifth track ends his participation and Ansi gets 0 points for the last track leaving him in 7th place.
Ragnar Robertsson from Iceland wants to continue where he left off yesterday but is hesitating in the fifth track. If that was because he is next in line after Ansi is hard to tell.
Ragnar finishes second in the Modified Class and leads the World Cup by 12 points.
Tomas Nyholm from Finland is third in line in the first track. He really shows everyone how to handle these slopes and is the clear winner of the Modified Class today with a full house of points!
Bjarki Reynisson from Iceland is next. Here he shows his abilities to safe himself in a scary situation. The Land Rover is just about to roll over backwards in the fifth track as you can see. His quick reaction of backing out saves the day. But his points leave him only in 6th place.
Jari Salonen from Finland is one of the best drivers today.
Jari's driving is impressive and lands him in the third place.
Sofia Scholin-Borg from Sweden shows that not only men can compete in Formula OffRoad. She doesn't seem to be afraid of heights.
Ketil Hakonsen from Norway gets a full house of points in the first four tracks but is not quite able to keep it up the last two. His result is the fourth place.
Cars in the Unlimited Class start each track right after the Modified Class. They are have white numbers and the tracks are marked with white markers on the left side of all gates. As you can see the tires have much bigger paddles and are way more efficient in gravel, sand and dirt throwing.
Rolf Keiser in the Terminator starts in the first track.
Roar Johansen from the Norwegian Torshov team is second up. His first two tracks and the last one is done with style and 350 points each...
...but performance in the other tracks drags him down to 6th place.
Leo Vidar Bjornsson on Iron Maiden.
Gisli G. Jonsson on Jeep is determined to win the first place like he did yesterday. Loosing 60 points in the fourth track costs him the gold and he ends up in second place in the Unlimited Class.
4x4 Off Roads!
Finn Erik Loberg on Race Runner is however even more determined to do better than Gisli. His fearless driving insures his gold medal.
Kristofer Hall on T-Rex.
Miikka Kaskinen on Big-Willys.
Olafur Bragi Jonsson on The Fox starts of ok but breaking the transmission in the fourth track ends his hopes.
Fredrik Sipuri on the Predator almost reaches the top in the first track. He must have broken something since he is not able to start in any of the later tracks.
Ville Viikari on Sandstorm.
Daniel G. Ingimundarson on the Green Thunder is having problems. Some tracks he seems to handle with ease. In others he is barely able to get over the first obstacle.
Daniel could do more of this and not fluctuate so much in his driving.
Ole Graversen on the Eagle.
Gunnar Gunnarsson on the Clown...
...shows a number of impressive stunts...
...like this one here. He ends up in third place in the Unlimited Class.
Morten Lovskogen on Gladiator starts well even though he rolls over in the end gate of the first track. He gets fifth place.
Arne Johannesen on Light Foot the second Torshov team truck.
Sigurdur Thor Jonsson on Troll is doing his best and is not far from getting a medal. He ends up in fourth place.
Ulf Drakenheim on Dragon Wagon.
Tuukka Laasonen on the Black Moose.
Winners in the Modified Class. Tomas Nyholm winner in the center, Ragnar Robersson silver medalist to the left and Jari Salonen bronze to the right.
1. Tomas Nyholm Suzuki 
2100
2. Ragnar Robertsson 4x4.is Willys 
1970
3. Jare Salonen Willyster 1920
4. Kjetil Hakonsen Sandy 
1800
5. Sofia Scholin-Borg Affe 
1670
6. Bjarki Reynisson The Animal 1610
7. Anssi Oivanen Linda 1500
8. Harri Kamppi Jeezuki Looser 770
9. Arne Larsson Willys CJ2 420
Winners in the Unlimited Class. Finn Erik Loberg in the center, gold medal winner. Gisli G. Jonsson to the left, silver medal and Gunnar Gunnarsson bronze winner to the right.
Unlimited Class
1. Finn Erik Loberg RaceRunner 2000
2. Gisli G. Jonsson The Steroid 1950
3. Gunnar Gunnarsson The Clown 1900
4. Sigurdur Thor Jonsson The Troll 1850
5. Morten Lovskogen Gladiator 1760
6. Roar Johansen Thunderbolt 1730
7. Miikka Kaskinen Big Willys 1660
8. Arne Johannesen Lightfoot 1650
9. Ulf Drakenheim Dragon Wagon 1470
10. Ole Graversen The Eagle 1470
11. Daniel G. Ingimundarson Green Thunder 1430
12. Rolf Keiser Terminator 1400
13. Tuukka Laasonen Black Moose 1380
14. Leo Vidar Bjornsson Iron Maiden 1320
15. Ville Viikari Sandstorm 1210
16. Kristofer Hall T-Rex 1140
17. Olafur Bragi Jonsson The Fox 1020
18. Fredrik Sipuri Predator 240
After giving prizes to the drivers prizes where also given to key staff members. This is a nice gesture and I would like to see more of this in future competitions.
Thanks to the organizers for these two days of fun and action and also for allowing us to stay in this friendly hut in the woods.
After a day like this it is just fantastic to go to a real Finnish sauna. Highly recommended!
Formula Off Road - Off Road motor sport at its best. Most powerful specially modified 4x4 vehicles taken to the extreme with full throttle and nitro. Hundreds upon hundreds of horses under the hood.
