Read more about Jim Marsden, Team Gigglepin

KING OF THE HAMMERS
2014
THE RISE OF TEAM ODYSSEY
Will it ever stop raining?? The UK has been gripped by flooding for weeks and still the rain falls...
There is little that can brighten your spirits when it's wet and cold, but a phone call telling you are
going to be racing in four weeks at one of the greatest off-road events in the world is certainly one of
them.
I was still in total shock as I put down the phone; we are to be racing in one of the new Spec class
vehicles during the Smittybilt Everyman Challenge the day before the main race. It's a simple idea,
and brain child of Ultra 4 boss Dave Cole. Create a class where every team uses identical cars and race
head to head to find the best crew. Odyssey batteries have supported Team Gigglepin and now they
need a driver that could deliver in this tough race against great drivers such as two times Hammers
King Shannon Campbell, Larry Nickel and the world’s fastest women Jessi Combes.
A driver is only as good as the team that supports him and I knew exactly who to ask.... A few short
calls later and Aussie legend Wayne Smith is co driving and Team Gigglepin stalwarts Mark Birch and
Willo Overton are in the chair as crew chief and media guru.
The New 4700 class cars are awesome and built to
tackle the hardest trails at the Hammers.
They use a Jimmy's 4x4 chassis with a Hemi 5.7
delivering 375 ponies through the TH400 race
transmission. An Atlas Transfer case and mighty
Spidertrax axles with 10" differentials deliver the
power to ATX wheels and 37" Falcon tyres. Fox coil
overs and hydraulic bump stops soak up the
bumps, while massive aluminium suspension links
and huge joints keep everything moving smoothly.
The PSI full hydro steering and Mastercraft seats
and harnesses finish this great car.
It's one hell of a package and nothing like I have
ever driven before.
We arrive in Los Angeles Friday afternoon
but although itching to get to the lakebed
we have to wait till Saturday morning
before we can head to Johnson valley.
It's a 3hour 150 mile drive to Hammers
and it seems to take forever!
We arrive and make our way to the spec
class pit to meet the new cars.
There has been speculation and rumour
that the cars are not ready, but this
vanishes as we round the corner and find
six amazing looking cars each wrapped in a
different livery.
Looking after these cars and preparing them is the
Dust Junkies. This Baja 1000 race winning pit crew are
described by Aussie Ultra4 star Ben Napier as the "The
best in the business", and they could not be a nicer
bunch. They help us learn the car as we dive in
checking every nut, bolt and link eager to learn
everything about our race car. Our first drive is mind
blowing!
The car suspension has been set up by shock master
Wayne Israelison and he has nailed it. Almost every car
racing uses triple bypass shock absorbers to flatten out
the huge metre deep whoops in the desert. These cars
don't have these and it's only the skill and patience of
Wayne that has made these cars handle so well. My
Co Driver Wayne Smith and I can't stop smiling as we
make our way back to the pit, this car is fantastic!
The next day sees us shooting a film commercial for the
new spec class and then it's back out pre-running trying to
get as much seat time as possible before our qualifying
runs the following day.
Tuesday morning is soon upon us and we line up for our
qualifying run. We are the first car at Hammers to run the
qualifying course on the clock and we are buzzing!
We set a solid time and watch as car after car come back
with flat tyres. It's a tough course and the spec class are
doing well if they break 4 minutes 30 seconds. Shannon
Campbell posts the fastest time but destroys a tyre and
bends the front axle and is now not sure if he will be able
to race? We are happy with second place and watch the
stock and modified EMC cars qualify before the Ultra4
4400 class line up.
When I found out that we were racing in the spec class I called Dave Cole and asked if we could also
run the big one the following day, King of the Hammers. He said “Yes!”
We had attempted this massive challenge last year and had to retire at race mile 98.
We’re the fourteenth car away in the 4400 class qualifiers and
we start well but soon the lap falls apart as I get caught on the
waterfall having to take three attempts to get up losing
valuable time. It's a shocker of a time and we know we will be
lucky to make the top 100.
Later in the day there is huge crash as the Big Ugly team thunder over the line, lose control and cart
wheel through the air 6 times before coming to rest with axles hanging off and the back end
destroyed. Both the guys walk away unhurt but very sore, testament to their roll cage.
Qualifying for hammers is a massive affair and takes two days for all 150+ cars to run. Each day they
have a power hour in the afternoon where the top teams show us what it's about and we watch in
awe as 600+ horsepower cars destroy the course making it look so easy. But there are also many
failures as many cars break or roll on the tough course with helicopters buzzing overhead and
thousands cheering and whistling.
While all this is going on Hammer
town is crowning a new King of the
Motos and a new King of the UTVs.
There is never time to see
everything and we are working
hard to make certain the car is
ready for the early morning start
on Thursday.
The Dust junkies are fantastic and help us prepare our car but are also very courteous allowing us
room to modify seats and do our own checks.
That evening the team goes through the strategy for race and plan the pits stops. The estimated fuel
range of the cars is 220 miles at race speed, so fuel stops are not required with a near 50% safety
margin. We have also decided to raise our tyre pressures to 20 psi to try to conserve the tyres on the
124mile course. It's a big call as doing this could seriously slow us on the big rock trails.
Thursday morning and it’s the start of the Smittybilt Everyman Challenge. It's another beautiful day,
but the air is cold and it's a morning for thermals under the race suits and under gloves as we fire the
5.7 V8 Hemi engine into life. Starting honours fall to the 60+ 4500 class cars and the 12 cars in 4700
Legend class. John Currie is in pole and we really want to repeat last year’s performance and catch the
legend once again.... surely we can’t pass 70+ cars can we??
It takes over 20 minutes for us to get started and we line
up next to Shannon Campbell. He has fixed his axle and
has the inside line. Both 5.7 Hemi V8’s roar and try as I
might he leads me to the first big climb called short bus
with both of us overtaking cars as we arrive there.
As we crest the top there is a car on its side and Shannon
is already past and pushing another driver hard as we
head to towards the lakebed. I follow his moves as we
race over the hill and take the right hand track as our
speed increases.
Shannon shows me a door and I thunder through with the pedal planted as we skip sideways on to
the lakebed at 80mph. It’s a great feeling to pass the former king but the dust hangs in the air in huge
curtains giving almost zero visibility as we power on. The changes to the seats have transformed my
driving and soon I am hunting down the pack.
It's as rough as hell with massive whoops and
dugouts that are impossible to describe. It
hurts when you hit them wrong and after 38
miles we fly past pit one and heading back
towards Hammertown.
The cars in front have thinned and we know
we have passed a great many teams on our
charge through the desert. There is one thing
that tells you more than any radio and that is
when you hear the helicopters overhead, hear
those and you know you must be near the
front. At race mile 80 we are heading across
the salt flats of Galilaio at 97mph when the
car falters and starts to lose power, I switch
fuel pumps and the problem improves...
Only one thing to do and that's go for it! The car can hardly pull itself and anything more than a slight
climb results in having to use low ratio and give it everything it's got!
But the wheels are still turning as we arrive at remote pit 2 to change a tyre after I stupidly knocked out a
side wall in Aftershock. We have a considerable lead over the rest of our class and were only the third car
to arrive at the pit.
At this point we should have got fuel, but at the team meeting the night before it was decided the cars
have enough fuel plus with the engine running poorly we needed as big a lead as possible.
We leave the pit area and limp on, it's still a reasonable pace and I am confident we can make it home. At
race mile 103 we arrive at Elvis the last major obstacle of the event, our high low gear change is slick as
we drive into the trail. We get no more than 30 metres before the car cuts out and won't restart.
We call the pits on our VHF radio, but it's impossible to get an
answer in the remote gulley and we decide we have no choice but
to run it in. Its ten miles back to Hammertown across desert in race
overalls. I don't do running, but today I changed that and pounded
that desert hoping we could get fuel and get back again. Wayne is a
strong runner and it’s no secret I am not! I was near finished when
got back to camp, but I was not going to give in and was ready to
get fuel and go back. The crew brilliant as ever, gave us water and
gave us the facts. It had taken us nearly two hours to get back and
with 20 litres of fuel uphill it would take even longer and there was
only 3hours left. With heavy hearts we gave it up.
The team are devastated.... We had an hours lead on anyone else in
class and had caught and passed over 60 cars most fitted with far
better suspension than our own car. Motorsport is harsh.
The dust junkies bring the car back in and soon find that the engine
management had failed causing the over fuelling that finished our
race....
John Currie did a great job and yet again won the Everyman
challenge with Jessi Combes being the first lady ever to win a class
at an Ultra4 event taking the 4700 spec class win.
John Currie – EMC Winner
Jessie Combes – Spec Class Winner
While all around celebrate we work throughout the night getting the car ready for the next day and King
of the Hammers.
It's 2am before we are satisfied and head to bed knowing we will only get 4 hours sleep before being up
again to race the toughest rock and desert race in the world.
The next morning the noise from Hammertown is insane as thousands of angry horses roar as 154 ultra4
cars line up for the 8am start. We have quite a wait as my poor qualifying lap as put us back in 118 th
position.
There are two other European teams racing in spec class cars, with high hopes falling to Emmanuel Costa
and Gerardo Sampario winners of King of Portugal who qualified well and sat over 50 places ahead of us.
Stefane and Raul return from Switzerland determined to finish the event after trying twice before.
There is a totally different vibe in the air today and I am already feeling jaded after racing the day before.
The plan today is very different and we know winning is not a possibility and just to finish would be a
massive achievement. Something I thought I would never say.
We start on the outside line once again but this time we cut off our man and arrive first at short bus climb
passing more cars on the run away heading towards the lakebed.
The dust! Oh man we have never seen anything like
it... It's impossible to see and we cut our pace nearly
hitting someone as their car looms out of the wall
towards us. Wayne is constantly talking and telling
me line as we start to pass car after car.
Occasionally we would be overtaken by vehicles
with IFS (independent front suspension) that had
had bad qualifying runs. It's amazing to watch them
eat up the desert. We see rolled cars, broken cars,
limping cars and cars being fixed.
We charge past the Portuguese pairing at around mile 20 and are making great progress until the
passenger front tyre delaminates and we have to stop to replace it undoing all our good work. It's a fast
change and soon we are under way again. Half a mile down the track we find Shannon Campbell... It's
clear the former king has a major issue and we stop and offer him a tow to the pits only two miles away.
With a new tyre on board and Shannon's
Thanks hanging in the air we roar off into
the maelstrom of cars and sand.
This race is 194 miles of the hardest desert
and rock trails you can ever imagine and it
breaks you and the car. By race mile 100
myself and Wayne are exhausted with
every bump feeling like a knife in your
chest, your hands saw from holding on and
your back and shoulders raw from seats
and harnesses, your neck cracking as you
turn despite wearing braces. But you never
stop and our pace is good. We are passing
more and more cars but another puncture
sees us lose valuable places. It's so
frustrating see your hard work being
undone.
The dust junkies are on it and make pit stops a pleasure as they supply us with water while refilling
the car and changing tyres. Back on track and its getting dark, thankfully we are sponsored by Lazer
lights and we had fitted an ST8 high powered LED light bar to the roof the night before. I had guessed
we would not finish before dark. I use these on my own car and love these bad boys.
We arrive at Wrecking ball for the final time
and we have caught another 4 cars, I am
already working out ways of getting past
when disaster strikes yet again.
As I drive up the waterfall the car cuts out,
this time caused by the fuel pick up having
been shaken off inside the tank. We have to
spend 30/40 minutes snatch blocking with
the winch to get us through and on our way.
With wrecking ball out of the way it was time to head
out to the final 30 miles and we are really feeling every
whoop. A car catches us in the rocks at Elvis as I
conserve my tyres and uses his siren to tell us to move
over. But we are on the run home and playing for
position, you want to pass, earn it. Once in the desert I
lay down the ponies yet again and he soon vanishes in
the mirror. Heading back into Hammertown is
incredible, thousands of lights and the mountains lit up
with lasers. Our crew are waiting by the finish as we
cross the line and they give us the biggest cheers.
People pore over to congratulate us as they explain we
are the only spec car still running as the others had
retired. We head up on to stage with music pumping
and the jumbotron (think monster TV) showing images
of guys still racing. It's hard to describe the feelings of
that night and finishing King of the hammers.
The Odyssey car was on the stage where it should have
been the day before and that made me very proud.
154 cars started and after 14 hours only 32 cars had finished.
This is without doubt the toughest event we have ever done and without the team impossible to finish.
The party went on well into the night and another two times king was crowned.
Congratulations to the King Loren Healy, 2nd placed Tony Pellergrino and 3rd placed Bill Baird
Huge thanks to: Odyssey Batteries, Dave Cole, Dust Junkies Racing, Texas Jesus, Wayne Smith (I think we
broke him) Will Overton (Media gnu), Mark Birch (Top bloke and superb mechanic) and everyone at home
for the continued support and the hours spent keeping everyone updated.
A special note must also go to Ben Napier…. Ben took me for a drive in his monster 700 horsepower IFS
race car on Saturday morning. Now I need to find £150k! Thanks mate 