Racing Rap by Jack Nerad for Driving Today

Malabar Rampage: Racing With an Indian Twist

Monday, March 15, 2010

The inaugural Malabar Rampage might be described as “The Darjeeling Limited” meets Formula One.

The race is looming, and it looks set to exceed earlier editions of the infamous Rickshaw Challenge series in sheer vehicular craziness.

First off, imagine a race that doesn’t feature slick 800-horsepower race cars but instead 7-horsepower, three-wheeled rickshaws. Now picture those oddball three-wheelers in a race across the Indian countryside -- for more than 1,000 miles -- and you have the potential for nearly untellable mayhem. Or if speed is your thing, the Malabar Rampage might be the most boring race since the last U.S. Grand Prix.

The Malabar Rampage is the latest route in the Rickshaw Challenge series, which features the amusing three-wheel conveyances that first came off the assembly line in 1957. The rally stretches a grueling 2,000 kilometers (roughly 1,200 miles) through the majesty and the mystery of South India’s Dravidian states. Having somehow reached its fifth year, the series has become synonymous with a unique spirit of adventure, with its completely novel take on what winning is all about.   

According to its organizers, “the Malabar Rampage is not an event for unthinking petrolheads or speed freaks.” Instead, the fun-loving, madcap ethos behind trying to traverse 1,000 miles in a slow, uncomfortable, open vehicle that is guaranteed to break down has attracted an idiosyncratic collection of teams from around the world. One of the key features of the rally is that it discourages speed and point-to-point racing.

 To become “The King of the Rickshawallas” -- the ultimate honor -- you have to top the leader board in a point system based on completing weird and wonderful challenges, feats of daring and imagination while helping underprivileged schools and villages along the way.

To make sure the inaugural Malabar Rampage kicks off in the style to which it has become accustomed, the competitors this summer will face a challenge never before attempted: to build the world’s first amphibious rickshaw and pilot it across a river. “Is the world ready for amphibious rickshaw?” you might ask. Well, maybe or maybe not, but what is certain is that the imagination and guile of the Malabar Rampage teams will produce vehicles the likes of which have never been seen.

While the amphibious rickshaw challenge is new, some of the tests facing the teams will be old favorites from previous Rickshaw Challenges, such as testing the skills of the drivers at backing up vehicles that are barely able to go forward in the first place, drag racing against sacred cows and decorating the rickshaws in the most outrageously pimp fashion possible.

Ever seen a giant mouse with a two-stroke engine weave between potholes through the most stunning countryside known to man? The participants of the previous Rickshaw Challenge have, and when the Malabar rampage kicks off on April 2, the world will doubtless see a whole new level of crazy. If you have a little crazy in you, places are open for teams to register to participate, and you won’t just be giving yourself a memorable time. Some of the entry fee is contributed to charity. The series has already contributed more than $68,000 directly to local schools in need.

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