Land Rover G4 Challenge
Tak Tak Time
26.04.2006
No amount of tuition could have prepared them for what lay ahead. The tak-tak is the poor man’s Easy Rider – a set of ludicrously long handlebars connecting an engine on two wheels to a back trailer. Instead of a 4.4 litre V8 engine and terrain response, they now had a deafening one cylinder 500cc diesel engine and the gearbox from hell.
Their task, the compulsory competition in the second remote day of the Challenge including kayaking, driving and rope skills, was known as Xien’s Tak-Tak. It sounded deceptively simple: negotiate a set of gates spread around a paddy field, pick up a couple of bundles of firewood, and use only first or reverse gear to finish in the shortest possible time.
Cue motorised mayhem, cheered on by a crowd of bemused locals. South Africa’s Martin Dreyer and Holland’s Thijs Maartense set the pace, heading dangerously towards an officials vehicle and then demolishing the first gate.
Pablo Burattini of Argentina was more successful – until gate six when his tak-tak suddenly stopped, whacked him in the back as he stood up, then veered wildly to one side, into a dyke. Voices were raised and hands waved as he and partner Kris Janssens tried to reverse.
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