Land Rover G4 Challenge
Speed or Strength or Strategy – or all 3
30.04.2006
As evil rain clouds gave way to burning sunshine Dmitry Timokhin and Kris Janssens produced a high octane performance to triumph in the opening event – a fusion of running, swimming, kayaking and driving around the Mekong River’s vast sand flats. In the shadow of a golden Stupa above the jungle outside Vientiane, their performance sent an ominous warning to close rivals.
Their chosen tactics to move heavy equipment – two kayaks, a tyre and a full jerry can – spread hundreds of yards apart, either side of the fast flowing river, showed their intimidating speed to full effect. While other competitors opted to transport their tyres in or alongside their kayaks, avoiding two exhausting 500-yard sprints, Dmitry and Kris were happy to put in the extra distance and drop theirs off, before turning to other tasks.
‘We played to our strengths,’ said Dmitry, who hardly broke into a sweat, despite the sweltering heat. ‘We had lots of energy, dry shoes and dry clothes. We could run fast so why not do it? It’s a very short race, like a sprint, so you should go flat out. When you get a chance like this, you give 100 per cent, maybe more.
‘When we saw the flow of the river, we decided to do the tyre first, then kayak to the jerry can. I’m not big so there was a lot of space between my legs, but it was very risky, I nearly overbalanced into the river.’
SleepMonsters
