Wednesday, June 29, 2022
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Wheels & More Commuter's Corner

Torfaera, Iceland’s off-road mania

AFPbyAFP
November 14, 2019, 8:05 pm
in Commuter's Corner
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
72
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

After more than half a century, revving engines in the tough off-road sport known locally as “torfaera” still draw crowds who love the noise and daring drivers.

Known internationally as  Formula Offroad a more direct translation of the Icelandic torfaera is a difficult driving difficult road

It’s late summer and Akrafjall mountain, which looms over the small town of Akranes, has been turned into a temporary race track.

Instead of asphalt, rocky terrain dotted with tufts of grass serves as proving grounds for the drivers of 19 purpose-built 4×4 vehicles.

Known internationally as “Formula Offroad,” a more direct translation of the Icelandic torfaera is “difficult driving” or “difficult road”.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ahead of the fourth of five rounds of the Icelandic championship, the vehicles, which look like a cross between a jeep and a dune buggy, are being prepared for the challenge.

At the wheel of “Bomban” (The bomb), 30-year-old Olafur Ingjaldsson is a bag of nerves before his first race.

“But it happens so fast that you forget everything. They say you can go and 10-20 seconds later it’s over,” he tells AFP, in a effort to reassure himself at the same time.

The drivers are only protected by a helmet, a safety harness and the vehicle’s reinforced roof.

Racing up and down steep hills, the drivers try to pass through gates and earn points.

Stopping or touching one of the gates results in points being deducted.

Some drivers make the tracks, which include seemingly vertical hill climbs, look effortless, while others get stuck in the dirt or tip over, leaving their cars looking like a turtle on its back.

National success

The suspense draws several thousand spectators.

Crowds are filled with families and tickets cost around 2,500 Icelandic kronur (around $20 or 18 euros).

“The enjoyment is the excitement, hearing the noise and seeing people sort of trying the impossible,” said Tryggvi Thordarson, president of the Icelandic Motorsport Association, which governs torfaera.

Starting in the early 1960s, the sport was born when fans of 4x4s working for Icelandic rescue services began to show what their vehicles were capable of in the hilly terrain.

The goal was originally to raise funds for their operations, and competitions were held between different rescue teams that went head-to-head in off-road races.

The first official championship was held in 1965 in the Mosfellsdal Valley, near the capital Reykjavik.

Formula Offroad has since spread outside Iceland, particularly to other Nordic states, but it has also made its way to the US.

Expensive cars

One of the cars lining up for the Akrafjall race is dubbed Hekla, and it packed around 1,000 horsepower under the hood.

Drivers must be careful with that kind of power however, it isn’t just for speed.

The tracks “are not that long and they are difficult, you have to turn … so speed is not an option,” mechanic Arnar Bjarkarsson tells AFP.

“The main thing is about power,” Bjarkarsson explains, noting that all those horses had to be tamed.

Successful drivers can be tight-lipped about how to achieve that.

“The more you train, the better you get,” Thor Palsson, winner of 2018 and 2019 championships, replied when queried by AFP.

Drivers, who are almost all amateurs, are often more concerned with just finishing than getting a record time.

“I have to be really progressive and thinking what I’m going to do and try to choose the best way to drive. And maybe it’s working or maybe not,” says Haukur Einarsson, a driver who also plays bass in a rock band.

Meanwhile, trying to limit breakage isn’t only aimed at keeping drivers safe, but also to protect their wallets, as cars cost between five and 15 million kronur (around $40,000 to $120,000).

In the early 2000s, international TV channels like Eurosport and the BBC were interested in torfaera, which drew sponsors as well.

But with the 2008 financial crisis, sponsors became scarce, forcing drivers and their teams to rely more and more on themselves. 

Tags: Akrafjall mountainIcelandic Motorsport AssociationOffroadOlafur IngjaldssonThor PalssonTorfaera
ADVERTISEMENT
AFP

AFP

Related Posts

TRB Inspects Soon to Open CAVITEX C5 Link Flyover Extension

byManila Standard
June 10, 2022, 7:00 pm
0
258
TRB Inspects Soon to Open CAVITEX C5 Link Flyover Extension

Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) Executive Director Atty Alvin Carullo together with the TRB technical team, the grantor of the Manila-Cavite...

Read more

SCTEX provides smooth, safe travels

byManila Standard
May 27, 2022, 9:10 pm
0
196
Motoring journalism showcased, honored at 21st Henry Ford Awards

Around P2.6 billion worth of infrastructure developments geared towards the safety and convenience of motorists have been implemented at the...

Read more

CAVITEX implements new toll rates starting Sunday

byManila Standard
May 20, 2022, 7:35 pm
0
207
CAVITEX implements new toll rates starting Sunday

In cooperation with the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), CAVITEX Infrastructure (CIC) will start implementing new toll rates for the CAVITEX R-1 segment...

Read more

NLEX toll hike in full effect

byManila Standard
May 13, 2022, 7:50 pm
0
226
Recognizing exemplary PH motoring journalism

NLEX Corporation has started implementing new toll rates for NLEX as of last May 12. The Toll Regulatory Board gave...

Read more

Makati reinstates number coding to full effect; no more carpooling

byManila Standard
March 4, 2022, 7:15 pm
0
4k
Editor’s Review: MS Weekend Drive with the MINI Cooper Countryman S

Starting March 16, the City of Makati shall be fully reimposing its number coding policy in which a vehicle is...

Read more

BYD powers country’s largest Electric Vehicle fleet

byManila Standard
January 7, 2022, 7:20 pm
0
162
BYD powers country’s largest Electric Vehicle fleet

Chinese automaker BYD has recently partnered with eSakay, Inc., a subsidiary of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), to serve as...

Read more

Stories you may like

  • Ex-Naga dad links Leni’s brother-in-law to illegal drugs

    Ex-Naga dad links Leni’s brother-in-law to illegal drugs

    36781 shares
    Share 14712 Tweet 9195
  • Of course, it was BBM’s project

    30890 shares
    Share 12356 Tweet 7723
  • INC endorses BBM, Sara

    28808 shares
    Share 11523 Tweet 7202
  • Duterte’s seven biggest achievements

    22021 shares
    Share 8808 Tweet 5505
  • Marcos leads SWS survey on presidentiables at 50%

    13584 shares
    Share 5434 Tweet 3396

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • GLOBAL-ESTATE RESORTS, INC.: Notice of the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting
  • Last DQ case vs. BBM junked
  • China VP Wang to represent Xi in inaugural rite
  • NICA chief: Senate agri smuggling list not from us
  • NCR under Alert Level 1 ‘til July 15; cases still going up
  • P85M in smuggled poultry from China blocked
  • Rody signs law that clamps down on suspected human traffickers
  • Restored church

Advertisement

Latest News

P85M in smuggled poultry from China blocked

byJoel E. Zurbano
June 29, 2022, 12:40 am
0
191
Agents seize shipment of ‘ecstacy’ worth P4.1M in NAIA

Government agents assigned at the Manila North Harbor have seized P85 million worth of frozen poultry products illegally imported from...

Read more

Rody signs law that clamps down on suspected human traffickers

byVito Barcelo
June 29, 2022, 12:35 am
0
164
Comelec to form task force to probe vote-buying

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law mandating government agencies to investigate and conduct intelligence gathering and surveillance on suspected...

Read more

Restored church

byJoey O. Razon
June 29, 2022, 12:33 am
0
134
Thieves take toilet valves from 8 airport restrooms

Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Jorge Moragas (5th from left, 2nd row, and inset) joins a group from the Escuela...

Read more

Thieves take toilet valves from 8 airport restrooms

byManila Standard
June 29, 2022, 12:30 am
0
198
Thieves take toilet valves from 8 airport restrooms

Now this is a real “Flush Report.” WHERE’D IT GO? In this screen grab from a News 5 television report,...

Read more

PH to keep fixing BRP Sierra Madre

byManila Standard
June 29, 2022, 12:25 am
0
199
YEAR IN REVIEW: Top news in 2021

China cannot stop the Philippines from fixing parts of the BRP Sierra Madre, the dilapidated Philippine Navy ship at the...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App