Stage One

There’s a widely held theory beloved of organisers of Trophy events that the best thing you can do to address health and safety issues for what is essentially – like all motor sports – a potentially risky activity, is to exhaust all the competitors as quickly as possible.

Adrenaline levels plummet, testosterone drains away from the drivers’ right feet and the logical brain starts to function. Experienced competitors are used to this and are mentally prepared for a tough first stage. Less experienced drivers commonly exhaust themselves in the first couple of hours and spend the rest of the stage (and probably the whole event) wondering what they have let themselves in for.

Ah but, Stage One of the 2010 Croatia Trophy was even more cunning than that this year. Old hands had psyched themselves up for a blistering start straight into the deepest swamp the forest could offer but instead found themselves parading in an exciting procession of competitor vehicles, press cars and support vehicles through the centre of Glina, the local administrative capital. Glina suffered greatly during the war and this unusual event was a welcome sign that the town was once again back on the map. The local population was out in force to wave, photograph and greet their visitors. Kids practised their English. The camera function on people’s mobile phones had never been so useful. The ’show’ start was spectacular and the smiles on people’s faces made it all worthwhile.

Then, just as the old hands had let down their guard, relaxed a little too much in the perfect Spring sunshine and had even begun to notice the blossom on the almond trees (some were even trying to make silly cuckoo noises, if you can imagine that) – a typically vicious stage one was suddenly underway. Swamps that could swallow a truck, ravines ten centimetres too narrow for a normal offroad vehicle, winch-burning ascents, diff-hunting tree stumps hiding under layers of glutinous chocolate and plenty of opportunities for the press to photograph the undersides of some of the less fortunate vehicles.

The Croatia Trophy this year is clearly continuing to stake its claim as the world’s toughest Trophy event and I don’t think many of the exhausetd, red-eyed competitors today will be challenging that claim at the end of this year’s Stage One.

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“CROATIA TROPHY 2010
E T A P E  1  ”
RANK    START No.    NAME    STATE    VEHICLE    START    FINISH    TOTAL
1   59    BOROS CSABA & ZOLTAN KONYA           H    JEEP WRANGLER            2:26:00
2   40    HARALD SEYFRIED & DIETER GILNREINER  A    JEEP WRANGLER         2:29:00
3   69    THOMAS SHUKER & JASMIN MOLL          D    MERCEDES G            2:31:00
4   52    MARTIN STAMPFER & THOMAS GRUBER      A    MERCEDES GE           2:37:00
5   72    JANEZ SLAVKO KRIVIC & DARKO GORIUP   SLO  PUCH 230 GE           2:39:00
6   41    MARIO ECKHARDT & CHRISTIAN DROSS     D    JEEP WRANGLER         2:48:00
7   87    PETER WHITMAN & ADRIAN TURNER        GB   D&G MITSUBISHI BUGGY  2:50:00
8   73    ROK PETELIN & LUKA PETELIN           SLO  JEEP WRANGLER         2:52:00
9   81    ZORAN ŠVEC & MARKO HORVAT            HR   SUZUKI  SAMURAI       2:58:00
10  48    SERGEY SAVENKO & ANDREY RUSOV        RUS  AUTOCAM 2160          2:59:00
11  91    BURKHARD EGGEMANN&DENNIS NEDOBITKIN  D    TOYOTA MOG            3:05:00
12  35    GUUS ALBREGTS & JORIS TREURNIET      NL   LAND ROVERDEFENDER 90 3:06:00
13  64    RALPH KRÜGER & NORBERT BENTENRIEDER  D    JEEP WRANGLER TJ      3:17:00
14  85    LORENZO SAVINI & ROMEO MANZAN        I    LANDROVER  DEFENDER90 3:20:00
15  58    HENDRIK DE NIJS & ANDRIES DE NIJS    B    jEEP CJ 7             3:21:00
16  66    ROBERTO MAZZEGA & MORENO SEGAT       I    JEEP WRANGLER         3:25:00
17  51    ALEX WEIRUM & MAX HANSEN             DK   NISSAN PATROL  GR     3:39:00
18  38    GORDAN KROTA & IVO BRGODAC           HR   JEEP WRANGLER            3:42:00
19  63    PETER SCHWARZ & HERMANN BECK         D    JEEP WRANGLER YJ      3:48:00
20  57    EDWIN DER MAAS & JOHAN DER MAAS      NL   JEEP WRANGLER         3:53:00
21  83    BOGDAN OPREA & GABRIEL PETZALIS         RO   JEEP WRANGLER         4:01:00
22  88    KEVIN MALLIA & DEREK SALIBA          M    MARUTI SPECIAL        4:08:00
23  92    WOUTER TYBERGHIEN & JOOP BARTEN      B/NL LAND ROVERDEFENDER 90 4:11:00
24  65    WALTER KLÖSS & MANUEL SCHREIBER      D    JEEP WRANGLER YJ      4:25:00
25  44    MICHAEL TRATTNIG & BERTRAM PANSY     A    PUCH 280 GE           4:38:00
26  82    MAURICE FARRUGIA & MARIO XUEREB      M    LAND ROVER DEFENDER90 4:39:00
27  47    WALTER SCHUHMACHER & SIGI HAIDEGGER  A    JEEP WRANGLER         4:54:00
28  80    ANDREI MUSETEANU & ALEXANDRU BOJICA  RO   MERCEDES G            5:04:00
29  54    PREDRAG VINKOVI? & MARIO PERIŠA      HR   PUCH 280 GE           5:08:00
30  42    CHRISTIAN POPRASK&CHRISTOPH KRAMMER  A    MITSUBISHI PAJERO     5:16:00
31  50    WOUTER VEKEMAN & STIJN VEKEMAN       B    DAIHATSU ROCKY        5:20:00
32  61    SZYLARD MAGYAR & KRISZTIAN KOVACS    H    MERCEDES G            5:25:00
33  74    DORI SELIŠKAR & MARKO MISSON         SLO  JEEP UNIMOKEE         5:39:00
34  78    MARKUS OSE & RICHARD WESKOTT         D    POLARIS RZR           5:42:00
35  43    NICO LADANG & WERNER OST             B    JEEP AMC CJ 7         5:53:00
36  39    PAUL VAN DER LINDE & MARK JANSEN     NL   LAND ROVER DEFENDER90 5:57:00
37  79    DRAGOS OSTAFI & RAZVAN LASCU         RO   TOYOTA RJ70           6:12:00
38  84    LAUR VALENTIN TURCANU & MARIUS LUPU  RO   JEEP CHEROKEE         6:22:00
39  30    NICO VAN WINGEN & BRUNO BOES         B    YAMAHA  RHINO            6:24:00
40  76    ARTURO BIAGIONI&GABRIELE CALICETTI   I    SUZUKI  SAMURAI       6:30:00
41  46    RON WILDEMAN & SANDRA BERKHOUT       NL   NISSAN PATROL         6:38:00
42  32    SYBOLT BURINSMA & TJARKO OCKERS      NL   LANDROVER DEFENDER90  6:53:00
43  49    PETER ARENDS & PAUL DE HAAS          NL   LANDROVER DEFENDER110 7:15:00
44  89    FRITZ BECKER & DOMINIQUE TRAFOIER    D    TOYOTA                8:15:00
45  70    CARL BUTTIGIEG & JOSEF BORG          M    LANDROVER DEFENDER100 8:15:00
46  62    STEPHANE ZOSSO & STEPHAN BERGER      CH   JEEP WRANGLER JK      8:15:00
47  56    IGOR CHERNENKO & VLADIMIR KRECHITOV  RUS  TOYOTA LAND CRUISER72 8:15:00
48  67    STEPHAN FÄRBER & SUSANNE FÄRBER      D    JEEP WRANGLER TJ      8:15:00
49  71    ERIK ŠPACAPAN & DEJAN MERVI?         SLO  JEEP WRANGLER YJ      8:15:00
50  60    GUY REFAEL & ILAN SHOSHE             IL   JEEP STORM            8:15:00
51  34    AXEL BURMANN & TOM OLIESLAGERS       B    JEEP WRANGLER        10:15:00
52  36    HRVOJE BARTOLI? & BORIS MICEK        HR   LANDROVER DEFENDER90  DIS
53  55    ROB MIERAS & MARCEL KONING           NL   LANDROVER DEFENDER90  DIS

“CROATIA TROPHY 2010
ADVENTURE    E T A P E  1  ”
RANK    START No.    NAME    STATE    VEHICLE    START    FINISH    TOTAL

1  21    YURI SELIFONOV & ALEXANDER NADKIN     RUS    MECEDES G 350DT      1:56:00
2  22    ROBERT GALL & EDWIN BERGER            D      SUZUKI SAMURAI       2:41:00
3  20    STEVEN OMBLETS & ALBERT OMBLETS       B      SUZUKI SAMURAI       5:16:00
4  23    JOHN JONGNEEL & PETER JONGNEEL        I      LANDROVER DEFENDER90 5:38:00

“CROATIA TROPHY 2010
ATV    E T A P E  1  ”
RANK    START No.    NAME    STATE    VEHICLE    START    FINISH    TOTAL

1  13    EDWARD SWIDZINSKI       PL      YAMAHA GRIZZLI 700                2:43:00
2  14    JAROSLAW MALKUS         PL      HONDA RINCON 680                  2:43:00

“CROATIA TROPHY 2010
ATV ADVENTURE    E T A P E  1  ”
RANK    START No.    NAME    STATE    VEHICLE    START    FINISH    TOTAL

1  10    BAS DONDORP    NL    ATV SUZUKI KING QUAD 700                  3:55:00