The Rainforest Challenge
When it comes to 4×4 racing, few races are as grueling as the Rainforest Challenge. This is a six-day race through Malaysia’s jungles using 4×4 jeeps and off-road vehicles. Along the way, competitors have to contend with dense jungle vegetation, mud, monsoon rains, raging rivers, snakes, and other jungle animals. Founded in 1997, this race’s motto is, appropriately, “Survival of the Fittest.”
The race is purposely scheduled each year during Malaysia’s monsoon season, and drivers have to be as mentally tough as they are physically tough for this race. Did we mention that the racecourse runs over slippery hills, into deep gullies, across overflowing rivers and on the edges of muddy cliffs? Oh, and most years there is at least one landslide that takes out some of the contestants. It has taken some competitors as long as 10 days to complete this race. This is one event that is not for the faint of heart.