Guyana 1992

Camel Trophy 1992 promised to be as varied and challenging as the preceding Tanzania-Burundi event, however ultimately the conditions proved to be drier than expected. Nevertheless, teams from sixteen nations encountered difficulties of another kind as clouds of red dust obscured pot-holes, some the size of a Land Rover, with never-ending ruts through ground as soft as Goodwin Sands became the order of the day.

River crossings were abundant as the convoy made its way from Manaus in Brazil across the border marked by the Takutu River and into neighbouring Guyana. From the border north via Dadenawa Ranch, bypassing the village of Letham into the Rupununni Savannah, then on via Annai to the Essequibo River. Soon after the raft unit was put in action to assist the teams across the fast flowing Potaro River, then on north towards the eventual finish in Georgetown.

For the first time in the event's history, participants also had the opportunity of adventure away from the cars as they spent two days trekking through the jungle and travelling in local river boats from Kangerooma, before finally reaching the breathtaking Kaieteur Falls. For many, this was the highlight of the event, adding an extra element of adventure and seeing one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world.

At the final destination in Georgetown, the team from the USA collected their first ever award, for Team Spirit, with France taking the Special Task Award in the closest contest for overall honours of recent events. The Swiss team of Alwin Arnold and Urs Bruggisser were the winners of the Camel Trophy.

Statistics

• Team Vehicles: Land Rover Discovery 200Tdi

• Support Vehicles: Land Rover Defender 110 200Tdi

• Distance: 1,400 km

• Number of Teams: 16

Participating Countries

• Austria - Gerhard Urschitz & Gerald Wendlinger

• Belgium - Robrecht de Meyer & Marc Sarens

• Canary Islands - Rafael Lesmes & Pablo Rivero

• Commonwealth of Independent States (Russia) - Dimitrij Leonidov & Yuri Ovchinnikov

• France - Eric Cassaigne & Patrick Lafabrie (Special Task Award)

• Germany - Markus Kaufmann & Peter Schliessmann

• Greece - Vassilis Apostolopoulos & Argidis Visvardis

• Holland - Bernard Juffermans & Erik Veldhuizen

• Italy - Umberto Liuzzo & Luciano Nava

• Japan - Kazufumi Obara & Mashahiro Takeuchi

• Poland - Zbigniew Kieras & Wojciech Palczewski

• Spain - Joan Segui Berga & Jorge Salvador Coderch

• Switzerland - Alwin Arnold & Urs Bruggisser (Camel Trophy)

• Turkey - Ali Albayrak & Korkut Serozan

• United Kingdom - Gareth Hansford & Tim Postgate

• United States - Dan Amon & Jim West (Team Spirit Award)