LandRover Owner International - October 2012

Acerni Team on LRO Magazine 

King of the Valleys 2012

Article "Brutal! King of the Valleys, south Wales"

by Neil Watterson

Neil Watterson visits this 'hard men only need apply off road challenge to see who gets to wear the crown.

The AWDC King of the Valleys event enticed teams from the UK, Malta, France and Italy to Walters Arena in South Wales to arguably, one of the best new events of this year. Organiser, Neil Whitford introduced Dave Cole of Ultra4racing who made the shock announcement that the winner of the increasingly international, AWDC King of the Valleys would win the chance to have their 4x4 shipped at Griffin and Ultra4’s expense to next year’s King Of The Hammers in the US. 

Spectating and parking were absolutely free and crowds were spread like around thirty-plus km of tracks. Up rocky stream beds, through woodlands and along fast rally tracks were the routs that taxed the various Land Rover coilers and other 4x4s driven by almost 40 entrants. Team Acerni stayed at the top of the leaderboard on Saturday's race day with the fastest run times in the good dry conditions. The gap between them and second place driver Rob Butler increased as they raced around the 18 mile circuit. A puncture set Team Acerni back about 10 minutes but, overall, they took the title, a £1000 voucher, and the trip to compete Stateside. Team Acerni was 1st, Rob Butler 2nd and a Land Rover Defender 90 driven by Marc Dyer placed third. 

The UK's toughest off-road racing event. King of the Valleys 2013 will take place at Walters Arena from 9-11 August 2013. 

Full results at www.allwheeldriveclub.co.uk click here for KOV Results