Every off road brand has it's own group of admirers. Friendships have been made and broken by owning a model from the same car manufacturer. We had the chance to participate in the third and most entertaining (so far) edition of the Suzuki Fest.
Held in the lovely Sighisoara area, in the South - Central area of the Transylvanian Plain, the Festival sought to bring together the owners and fans of one of the world's most loved mini-beast: The Suzuki off road cars.
The owners and Master Mechanics at the Suzuki Dojo chop shop have had the brilliant idea to organize an event that would specifically address the comfortable size of the cars - putting together a course that no other car bigger than a Suzuki could finish. Now at it's third edition, the event benefited from the official sponsorship and partnership of big brand names such as the Suzuki manufacturer itself, TOTAL lubricants and many more.
Since a one-day-get-together would've never cut it, the organizers set up a four day event. The first day was comprised of the technical aspects, signing up, camping and such while the second day was all about the forest. Suzuki enthusiasts had to tackle] a muddy track through the think and wonderful forests that cover the hills and mountains of the area.
The second competition day (and third day of the festival) was thought up in such a way as to allow spectators to happily observe the abilities of the cars – a full day of trial stages. A lovely forest clearing was set up as a parking place for the competitors, assistance and public and next to it, the forest was carefully and strategically cut of with white tape marked "Suzuki". From where we were, the tracks seemed pretty friendly. Going up and down small portions of hills, through a ravine and around trees. We were joking around, thinking that we could pull the track off in our Defender. However, at a closer inspection, we figured that our initial plan failed to be brilliant. The organizers thought the tracks up so well that only the small Suzukis would be able to finish without getting unbelievably stuck or breaking pretty much all the tape and accumulating the maximum penalty.
Three different levels off difficulty stood available for each particular class. The Hobby and Standard classes each had to finish two separate trial tracks, while the Extreme class had only one go. The public, anxious to observe the cars, gathered in all the hotspots, where cars had the most trouble going to and from, while participants struggled to finish the stages in the least possible time. Although a friendly and hazard free competition, the trials were not without surprises, as one of the Hobby class pilots lost control of his vehicle after a steep climb and stopped in a tree, completely wrecking the front end of the car.
The first two classes had their fair share of difficult sections, where the pilot needed to be able to understand and feel the size and grip of the car, nothing could be compared to the Extreme Class tracks. Three ravines, the smalles being two meters deep, were presented to the competitors. They had to go up the first muddy ravine, turn a hard left down a two meter vertical descent into the second bit, race up a dirt road only to get to the most difficult part. The third ravine, more than six meters deep and surrounded by vertical walls and mud was where most of the action took place. Winching down what was once a river bed, the Extreme Class competitors offered the thrills and spectacle everyone was looking forward to.
The evening saw the organizers handing out the prizes, diplomas and putting together a great big party to mark the end of the third successful edition of the Suzuki Fest. Cars and people were congratulated, great prizes such as TOTAL lubricants, Simex profile tires and steel rims were given out and everyone enjoyed the Suzuki Festival's Live Band. In the last morning, new friends were saying hello to eachother and getting the cars on the trailers with destination "home". Suzuki Fest already won a special place in their hearts and enticed them to promise that they will return for the following editions of the event.
