One year after exploring the steppes of Mongolia, the Camel Trophy returned to where the great adventure started eighteen years before - Latin America, this time Chile and Argentina. The event's evolution was now complete and the teams of athletes would be participating in a range of disciplines, including for the first time in the Camel Trophy's history, winter sports. Camel Trophy is well known for its brutal treks through steaming, malaria-infested jungles and punishing deserts but despite snow in Mongolia, this was the first true first winter event, with temperatures expected to reach minus 30 degrees in Patagonia.
The American team's trainer, Tom Collins, participant in the 1987 event said, "the weather is going to be the challenge on this event. If you make mistakes, you could lose your toes or fingers, even your life. Other Camel Trophies have sounded miserable, with the mud and the rain and the insects, but they were usually in places that were very friendly for human beings, places where there's water and warmth. Here, if you screw up, you die."
For the first time since 1990, a new Land Rover vehicle had its baptism of fire in the Camel Trophy. The Freelander was Land Rover's first SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) and the manufacturers were keen that it should demonstrate its abilities. The Freelander proved popular and capable at the International Selections in Sweden. The driving exercises took place on mixed terrain, everything from mud, snow and gravel to the ice-covered Lake Djupsjon. With ice almost three feet thick, competitors had plenty of opportunity to play.
The traditional Camel Trophy, where the convoy progressed through seas of mud and challenging forests was a memory. The teams were to explore independently and freedom to chose their route. Their only obligation was to meet up at four predefined points between Santiago, Chile and Ushuaia, Argentina - the southernmost city in the world, more than 3,000 miles south. The event was to cover a greater distance than any other Camel Trophy.
Between these meeting points, each team tried to choose best way between the biggest number of "Discovery" and "Adventure" locations. The 200-plus Discovery locations, selected for cultural or environmental relevance (including natural features and tourist sights such as the house of Butch Cassidy) all had the same value and were reached in the Freelander. From the Discovery location, the teams then used one of the sporting disciplines to reach the adventure location, with each one promising points corresponding to the difficulty in being reached.
The Freelander vindicated Land Rover's conviction that it was a suitable vehicle for the event. It was fast and agile and sailed along the snow tracks, performing with a spirit that could not be imitated by the support Defender. In the mud the situation was more or less similar. Even so, the "porter" can argue in its defense that it was loaded with tonnes of equipment, that the small-booted Freelander could never have carried. Despite this, the American team still lost several bags (containing food, clothing and a large sum of currency) from the roof rack of the support vehicle.
The official ending ceremony took place along the waterfront of Ushuaia to the music of a small band and a small crowd of autograph seekers. The French team of Mark Challamel and William Michel took home the Camel Trophy. South Africa and the United Kingdom followed in second and third place. The Land Rover Award (given to the team that visited the most "Discovery" locations) went to Spain's Emma Roca and Patricia Molina, the first all-female team in Camel Trophy's history. Two brothers from South Africa, John and Mark Collins, won the vote for the highly coveted Team Spirit Award.
Team Vehicles: Land Rover Freelander XEDi
Support Vehicles: Land Rover Defender 110 Tdi
Distance: Between 5,000 and 8,000 km - no set route
Number of Teams: 20
Participating Countries:
Argentina - Victor Bozic & Nico Bottinelli
Austria - Kristina Gruss & Rupert Riedl
Canary Islands - Jose Hernandez & Alvaro de Orleans
Denmark/Norway - Soren Brahe & Anne Marit Lia
Finland/Sweden - Fredrik Pettersen & Maarit Jarvilehto
France - William Michael & Marc Challamel - Camel Trophy
Germany - Peter Weiland & Elena Boggemeyer
Greece - Stefanos Kabarakis & Zois Panos
Holland - Rob Visser & Joost Standt
Italy - Fabrizio Pistoni & Michelangelo Oprandi
Japan - Yoshio Ikemachi & Yoshihito Nakano
Portugal - Pedro Maia & Goncalo Vidal da Gama
Romania - Aron Gorog & Zoltan Bartha
Russia - Konstantin Agevnin & Igor Baronos
South Africa - Mark Collins & John Collins - Team Spirit award
Spain - Patricia Molina & Emma Roca - Land Rover award
Switzerland - Hanspeter Rieder & Frederic Kholi
Turkey - Mehmet Memo Gurs & Kutlu Torunlar
United Kingdom - Martin Hansford & Andy Watkins
United States - Dean Vergillo & Greg Thomas
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Camel Trophy 1993 - Sabah Malaysiaby ini88316 views
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