Extreme off road motor sport at its best. Most powerful specially modified 4x4 vehicles given full throttle and nitro. Hundreds upon hundreds of horses under the hood.
You got to be interested in the extreme off road sport - officially called "Formula Off Road". To introduce this amazing sport I attend as many of these events as possible. Bringing to you reports with stunning pictures and true stories of the successes and failures in the track.
If you happen to be in Iceland this summer or Finland or Norway this autumn I can guarantee you will have a great time visiting some of the events.
Formula Off Road Reykjavik Iceland 2009 -2
The sixth and final Formula Off Road Icelandic Championship 2009 is at Kollafjordur just north of Reykjavik. Like yesterday the race is also a part of the Nordic Cup. The tracks are a bit different this time although the place is the same.
Formula Off Road Reykjavik Iceland 2009 -1
The fifth Formula Off Road Icelandic Championship 2009 is at Kollafjordur just north of Reykjavik. The race is also a part of the Nordic Cup, but since the competitors can choose to skip two out of 10 competitions none is attending from the other Nordic countries.
Formula Off Road Blonduos Iceland 2009
The fourth Formula Off Road Icelandic Championship 2009 is at Blonduos in the north-west part of Iceland. The weather is great but the dust is slightly over limit for my taste.
Formula Off Road Akureyri Iceland 2009
Akureyri is today's host of the formula off road Iceland championship. The tracks look much more challenging than the last weeks Hella race - even though it lacks any water crossings and mud throwing.
Formula Off Road Hella Iceland 2009
The Hella Formula Off Road race is usually the most fun event of the year. The first three tracks are the hill climbing followed by three timed courses with the river and the mud in the end. Because there are only two trucks registered for the modified street class, those two are moved into the unlimited class.
60 Minutes Australia 4x4 Iceland
Steven Rice as a producer from the Australian 60 minutes contacted me a few weeks ago since he was going to take his team to cover the Icelandic meltdown from a little bit different angle. He wanted to see Formula Off Road 4x4 trucks in action! The day of the shooting is one of the best days of the month. No wind and no clouds.
Christmas Humanitarian Trial Run
I found that December brings the most interesting things of all the months. This year it brought interesting and unexpected activities in the off road scene of Romania. An unprecedented fund raising event took place on the outskirts of the capital city of Bucharest, involving a Christmas Off Road Trial aimed at collecting money for needy families around the county.
Romanian Extreme Adventure 2009
A country with mountains is a country with off road cars. And where there's off road cars, sooner or later there's bound to be the desire to compete and see who's the best driver, the most skilled mechanic or the most cunning navigator of them all.
Rainforest Murca '09
September 1st - 6th - Murca, Portugal
The Rainforest Murca was born in 2005 from the oldest Rainforest Challenge Selection. Before 2005, this RFC Selections were based in Spain and from 2005 moved to the wonderful, ancient Town of Murca in the north of Portugal.
Transylvania Adventure Trophy 2009
As I'm writing this, most of the people we've met in the past week have already gotten to their home countries. The 2009 edition of the Transylvania Adventure Trophy has been a particularly difficult but also rewarding one.
Organizing an Off Road Competition
Off road racing is great to watch, great to take part in but hellish to organize. Competitions - some are good, some are not, some are one day, others are a week or more. And just as the types vary, so do the reasons for going to one of them. For some it's the prize, for others it's the company or the adventure. 
The Cluj Cup
Between 7 and 10 of August 2008, Transylvania Off Road Club organised the sixth stage of the National Championship in the Baisorii Mountain resort. The Cluj Cup is, as are all the competitions in the race calendar, a Trophy/Trial competition. 
Romanian Extreme Adventure 2008
The latest stage of the National Off Road Championship of Romania took place at the beginning of this month at Buzau, in the heart of the country. For a period of seven days straight auto, moto, ATVs and Side-by-Sides competed in both Open and Extreme classes in another very long, demanding but rewarding off road competitions around.
Off Road Contest: Campulung Muscel
The Campulung Muscel Off Road Contest that took place between 29th of November and 2nd of December marked the end of the competition year in Romania. This, of all the contests, was the most important because it was the last phase of the national championship.
Harghita Off Road Trophy 2008
The last competition of the year took place in the Harghita mountains, and was organized by the team from Siculus Off Road Club, which made sure that everything was perfect down to the last possible detail, so that the ending of the competitional year would bring nothing but happiness to those who organized and who participated.
Transylvania Adventure Trophy
Like every year, off road lovers from all over Europe gathered in the Romanian city of Deva, in the western part of the Transylvania Plateau to take part in one of the most prestigious competitions of the year. The competition spirit was left aside in favor of a more friendly, fairplay relationship between contestants.
The Cluj Cup
Between 7 and 10 of August 2008, Transylvania Off Road Club organised the sixth stage of the National Championship in the Baisorii Mountain resort. The Cluj Cup is, as are all the competitions in the race calendar, a Trophy/Trial competition.
Nordic Trial Open - Brokelandsheia
This is the first time I attend an off-road trial. Many of the Nordic top drivers are gathered here today to compete. It's really fun to compare it to the Formula Off Road and see the similarities as well as the differences.
Hillrally 2006: Ray Kempster Takes Victory
Chipping Norton's Ray and Yvonne Kempster emerged victorious from a thrilling HILLRALLY 2006 supported by BRITPART.
Musaios Extreme Adventure @ Buzau
This weekend the town of Buzau, a small mountain settlement in Romania was home to the one of the last major off road contests for this year. As most of the competitions here, this one emphasized very strongly on navigation skills of the copilot, pilot's driving skills as well as a good relationship between the two members.
Xtreme Rock Racing Series 2008 - Calendar
The calendar schedule for the 2008 Xtreme Rock Racing Series is now ready. Take a look and see if you can make it to any of the events. 4x4OffRoads will try to attend some and take pictures and write about the experience.
MXRRA - Mexico Rock Racing - Updated
Everyone asks "How did you crazy guys end up rock racing?" Well, it all started with the first FREE Jeep Jamboree ever to be held in Mexico back in March of 2002 which attracted offroaders from the states of Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, Jalisco, Michoacan, DF, Queretaro, Tampico, and Guanajuato.
UROC - Mexico Rock Cross
The UROC (United Rock Crawling & Off Road Challenge pronounced "You Rock") ProNational Rockcrawling Championship Series is broken into two divisions, the Pacific division in the West and the Atlantic division in the East. UROC Mexico, headed up by UROC Mexico Director Ponce includes three events nationwide and UROC Japan begins in 2007.
RC-Formula Offroad
RC Formula Offroad was born in the summer of 2005 in southern Finland. The very first competition was held in Tampere, Finland. In the wing of time, the sport has grown and grown. In 2007 there was the first RC Formula Offroad World Championship.
Formula Off Road In Motoring UAE National
Gordon Torbet came all the way from Abu Dhabi to Iceland for the final round of Formula Off Road. Here is the front page of the Motoring section where you can read the article "Valhalla of dirt"
(This is just the beginning - hope to have the full article up also: Thrandur)
Article: Trail Head
John Cappa from JP Magazine writes about Formula Off Road in the Nordic countries. He would like to see a Formula 4x4 US competition! This article appears in the March 2007 edition. They got the photo from 4x4OffRoads.com - shot by Thrandur Arnthorsson.
Article: Viking Raiders
An article about the Formula OffRoad motor sport in Iceland. Appearing in the October 2006 issue of the Car Xpress Magazine published in Dubai.
- By Thrandur Arnthorsson
Formula Off Road Locations Iceland
Here are the currently used locations for formula off road racing in Iceland.
Starting from Reykjavik and travelling the circle first north and then east and south we have the following places with driving directions.
Formula Off Road Unlimited - specifications
All vehicles must have two axles and four wheel drive.
Overall design of vehicle is free of choice within the following regulations.
Formula Off Road Modified - specifications
All vehicles must have two axles and four wheel drive.
All vehicles must have a body shape that resembles a mass produced vehicle.
All vehicles licensed after 01.01.2006 must have two seats installed side by side.
After 01.01.2010 ALL vehicles competing in the Modified class must have two seats installed side by side.
Formula Off Road - 2008
Articles and results from the 2008 season. Exciting competitions from Iceland and Denmark.
Formula Off Road - 2007
Articles and results from the 2007 season. Exciting competitions in all the Nordic countries. World Cup and Icelandic national championship. 
Formula Off Road - 2006
Articles and results from the 2006 season. Exciting competitions in all the Nordic countries. World Cup and Icelandic national championship.
Formula Off Road - Hella 2004
Formula Off Road is a relatively new sport. The trucks are built for one purpose only and that is to go the extreme off road tracks that are specially laid for the vehicles.
Extreme OffRoad Wallpaper
Extreme Off Road Backgrounds. Pictures that show the most powerful 4x4s competing in the fast paced extreme Formula Offroad championship. 
Formula Off Road Background
Extraordinary background pictures from the Formula Off Road Championship in Iceland. Pictures that show the most powerful 4x4s performing amazing stunts. I only wish these pictures came with sound!
4x4 Off Roads in Iceland on Trans World Sport
Crazy Icelanders drive their trucks up and down steep hills, awesome stuff! This is a video shot at the Formula Off Road event in Blonduos last summer. Explains the Formula Off Road enthusiasm and the off road tradition of Iceland.
Video: 4x4 Driving on Water
Top Gear Video: Jeep Driving Across Water. Formula OffRoad champion Gisli G. Jonsson tries his truck on the task of driving more than half a kilometer over lake Kleifarvatn. Richard Hammonds gets on board and gets the thrill ride of a lifetime. Gisli also tries his abilities against a snowmobile. 
Video: MotorWorld - Iceland
A brilliant TV show back from 1997. Concludes Icelanders are maniacs. Jeremy Clarkson who is now hosting the British TV show TopGear takes a close look at the Formula Off Road and other motor sports in Iceland which he describes as "Scotland on steroids"!
Formula Off Road - 2002 Season
Awesome trucks with up to a 1000hp engines. Giving all they can in a fierce battle for the national championship. 53 minutes of competing in sand, gravel and slopes that are literally vertical.
To keep up with the news and articles I strongly advice you to subscribe to the 4x4 Newsletter.
Here are the dates and locations for the Formula off road calendar in 2009. Check it out and see if you have the opportunity of attending one of the events.
Formula Off-Road -
| Hella | Akureyri | Blönduós | Kollafjordur | Kollafjordur | Total | ||||
| 1. | Hafsteinn Þorvaldsson | Coke Zero | 10 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 39 |
| 2. | Jón Ingileifsson | Choirboy | 3 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 34 | |
| 3. | Leo Viðar Björnsson | Iron Maiden | 8 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 33 | |
| 4. | Jóhann Rúnarsson | Clown | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 31 |
| 5. | Einar Gunnlaugsson | The Devil | 10 | 5 | 5 | 20 | |||
| 6. | Bjorn Bragi Saevarsson | Skjalfti | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 13 | ||
| 7.-8. | Bjarki Reynisson | Animal | 6 | 4 | 2 | 12 | |||
| 7.-8. | Ólafur Bragi Jónsson | Fox | 4 | 8 | 12 | ||||
| 9. | Sigurður Þór Jónsson | The Troll | 3 | 8 | 11 | ||||
| 10. | Vignir Rúnar Vignisson | N1 Willys | 5 | 2 | 7 | ||||
| 11. | Guðbjörn Grímsson | N1 Willys | 6 | 6 | |||||
| 12. | Benedkt Sigfússon | Hlunkurinn | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 13. | Graham Little | N1 Willys | 4 | 4 | |||||
| 14. | Alexander Már Steinarsson | Suddi | 3 | 3 | |||||
| 15. | Guðlaugur Helgason | Magic Yellow | 1 | 1 |
Street Legal Class
| Hel | Aku | Egi | Blö | Kol | Kol | Total | |||
| 1. | Steingrímur Bjarnason | Willys Jeep 1964 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 54 |
| 2. | Haukur Þorvaldsson | Willys | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 49 |
| 3. | Hlynur B. Sigurðsson | Toyota Hilux 1991 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 35 |
| 4. | Páll Pálsson | Willys CJ7 1966 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 23 | ||
| 5. | Hannes B. Þórarinsson | Willys Jeep 1964 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 22 | ||
| 6. | Stefán Bjarnhéðinsson | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | ||||
| 7. | Fannar Smárason | Willys | 3 | 3 | |||||
| 8. | Davíð Guttormsson | The Sheep Einar | 2 | 2 | |||||
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.
