The location is the Gravelrama grounds in Cleves, Ohio. IOK Fourwheelers about 30 minutes west of Cincy. This is the former site of Bug-in years ago.
As far as the rules go they are still under development. I personally have been writing them. Basically it works like this: Time: 1hour minimum Goal: Obtain as many laps as possible in that time frame. Course: There is at least 1 checkpoint and depending on the size of the course sometimes more. How the race works: Race around the course and stop at each checkpoint to log your progress. At each checkpoint you yell your vehicle number and take-off. We are looking into electronic race timers to do this automatically to eliminate the stopping, but it adds to the excitement. There is a designated Pit Stop area for repairs.
Penalties: Keep in mind these are still under development the IOK Rock Endurance Race Rule Book contains the latest rules and infraction amounts.
Lap, Progression = 1 checkpoint check-in A lap will be awarded for each checkpoint “check-in”. If multiple checkpoints are present on a course a lap is then defined by the number of “check-ins” divided by the number of the checkpoint stations for a course.
Touching of Course Markers, Penalty = 1 checkpoint check-in Will be awarded for each occurrence. The course is marked with cones, barrels, ribbon, banners, flagging, flags, etc. If the spotter, winch cable, pull strap, vehicle contents, etc. touch any marker, it will count the same as if the vehicle had touched it. For the infraction to occur the marker needs to move requiring intervention from the IOK Rock staff to replace the marker. Markers that fall due to exhaust, wind, and unstable obstacles will not count. If a line of competitors are trailing each other and each one cross’s over the imaginary position of the course marker, assuming the marker is not replaced or moved back into its original position, only the first competitor who hit the marker will receive the penalty.
Loose Articles, Penalty = 1 checkpoint check-in or immediate disqualification Will be awarded for articles thrown from a vehicle in competition. Depending on the resulting severity of the incident will determine the level of penalty.
Out of Bounds, Penalty = 2 checkpoint check-in Will be awarded for driving out of bounds. You are permitted to cross the course marker but you must re-enter the course where you crossed out of bounds without receiving a penalty. Each course has an out of bounds line determined by a stinger banner, pylons, or similar that help delineate the call for out of bounds infractions.
Sportsmanship, Penalty = 5 checkpoint check-in Will be awarded for displaying un-sportsmanship like conduct. Un-sportsmanship conduct is defined as any rude or abrasive act towards officials, local authorities, other teams, spectators, defacing property, or displays drunken or disrespectful behavior. Sportsmanship penalties can occur before, during, or after a competition. Depending on the severity of the incident the individual and/or the entire team may be disqualified from the current event.
The rule book also contains information about Safety and other Miscellaneous requirements for competitors. Once we have them reviewed and released I can post them here for your review. Our goal is to promote organized offroad.
We strive to create equal classes so that the competition is fair. For the endurance races we class vehicles based on vehicle, engine size, suspension type, and frame. For rail buggy's you will compete only against other rail buggy's. We are currently working on the breakdown for the rail buggy class. Our current thought is separate force air induction (i.e. - turbo) and non-forced air induction. Then we would break this down further based on engine displacement. A further breakdown would be air cooled vs. water cooled. We are not going to place a Northstar motor equip buggy against a VW single port air cooled buggy, I don't think that would be fair. In the end it really depends on the turnout at the competition. If you have any suggestions to help with the class breakdown please let me know.
Our experience in these competitions is it really depends on how well your rig is built.
BTW: My name is Frank, I am part of the younger crowd at IOK putting on the events under the IOK Rock name. My group has been hosting rock crawling events for a few years and last year we got into Endurance Races. We are still running both venues. This year we are running two Endurance Race events, April 14th and July 6th - 7th (Offroad Jamboree: Come celebrate the 4th with us).
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