At the beginning of the day I was pretty sure the Warthog buggy from Canada was in first overall. It's hard to tell who won the the obstacle course this morning when you take time and cones into consideration. All of the buggys had good times as did the CJ-5. The International Harvester got running again and they didn't even have to replace the engine. Apparently only the the oil pump was crushed into the distributor drive. The Bronco is downright scary to watch on sidehills...or anywhere for that matter. Very top heavy.
Hill Climb
The International Harvester landed on it's side near the top of the hillclimb. These guys just can't seem to catch a break. Several of the rigs did not make it to the top. I'm pretty sure the Canadian Warthog buggy took first on the hillclimb with the CJ-5 around second place. If that's the case, the Canada buggy has pretty much sealed the overall win.
Mini Rubicon
The rocks broke some parts today. The CJ-5 lost a TH400 oil pan about 1/2 way in and was in the lead for some time. The course was really rough. It looked as though several 500-pound bombs has been dropped in the rockpile. They even added mud and water to the pits. As predicted the Bronco had some suspension issues. He broke everything. The suspension pulled apart, the limit straps and rear shocks were yanked from thier mounts and the front and rear driveshafts also broke. All within about 2 seconds. It clanked and banged like a full toolbox getting knocked off a bench. The Bronco had to be hoisted out of the rocks with an excavator (see pic). The International Harvester once again had a failure, it spit plenty of atf or power steering fluid before the driver called it quits about 1/3 into the course. But the winner in the rocks is likely the Warhog, who performed several flop-to-save throttle attacks in his run (it's gonna make great video). You could tell he was getting frustrated by the end, he was on the throttle and wanted out.
The tank trap is tommorow. I'd be surprised if the Bronco is up and running 100%. The other compeditors have a few wounds to lick too. At this point I'm pretty sure the Canadian Evo Warthog buggy will be the overall winner, even if he fails miserably in the tank trap, which is very unlikely.
For more pics go to www.fourwheeler.com