The Fuchs Elephant Charge is a motor sport event in which teams will be required to visit 10 checkpoints while travelling the shortest possible distance across difficult, trackless terrain.
Speed is not a necessity. The event is organised to raise funds to support the activities of the Charge Charities.
The Fuchs Elephant Charge is organised by Elephant Charge Zambia Ltd on a not-for-profit basis.
Angela Chisembele
info@elephantcharge.org
Tel: +260 974 135 023
Peter Castle – Chairman
Dave Bosse
Sarah Davies
Andy Fleming
Mike Fleming
Jo Pope
Tom Younger
Cesca Cooke
Clerk of the Course:
Peter Castle
Deputy Clerks of the Course:
Mike Fleming
Tom Younger
Andy Fleming
GPS Tracker Fitting: Between 11:00hrs and 14:00hrs on Saturday 21st September 2024 at Mudpackers Shop, Leopards Hill Business Park, Leopards Hill Road, Lusaka
Registration and Scrutineering: Between 11:00hrs and 15:00hrs on Friday 27th September 2024
Driver’s Briefing: 17:00hrs Friday 27th September 2024
Race Start: 07:00hrs Saturday 28th September 2024
Race End: 15:00hrs Saturday 29th September 2024
The Clerk of the Course’s decision on the eligibility of any vehicle will be final.
The event is open to any vehicle with 4 wheels or more which must be roadworthy and safe in the opinion of the scrutineers, EXCEPT that the following are specifically excluded:
The minimum allowed unloaded weight of a vehicle is 500kg. The maximum allowed unloaded weight of a vehicle is 3000kg.
Any tyre and rim size and design is allowed. Studs, chains and spikes are prohibited.
At scutineering, each car will be checked for the following mandatory equipment:
It is recommended to carry sufficient food for the crew for 24 hours as well as warm clothing and blankets. A torch is recommended to enable search parties to locate lost vehicles at night.
Power-driven winches are permitted. GPSs are permitted. Radio and mobile phone communication will not be allowed except in emergencies. Any competitor who is judged by the Clerk of the Course to have used radios or mobile phones will be disqualified.
The event is open to any vehicle with 2 wheels which must be roadworthy and safe in the opinion of the scrutineers.
The minimum allowed engine capacity is 65cc. The maximum allowed engine capacity is 850cc. Each bike team must have at least one bike fitted with a functional battery and charging system. The GPS Tracking Device will be fitted to this bike.
Power-driven winches are permitted. Each rider must have a helmet, eye protection and all other suitable protective equipment. Bikes may only carry fuel in fitted fuel tanks. GPSs are permitted. Each bike team must carry a First Aid kit to be checked at scrutineering.
Each bike team must carry at least 5 litres of water. It is recommended to carry sufficient food for the crew for 24 hours as well as warm clothing and blankets. A torch is highly recommended to enable search parties to locate lost vehicles at night.
Each team’s performance will be measured by the GPS Tracking Device supplied by the organisers. No other instrument will be considered as valid when computing final results.
The GPS Tracking Device and associated equipment provided remains the property of Elephant Charge and must be returned to the organisers on completion of the event, prior to leaving the Charge.
Any evidence of damage to the equipment or interference with it’s sealing will result in exclusion. Entrants will be required to compensate Elephant Charge for any damage or loss to the GPS Tracking Device or components.
Each team must be either a car team or a motorbike team.
Entries will only be accepted on full payment (cleared funds) of the Entry Fee. Entry will normally be on a first-come-first-served basis except that priority may be given to teams who have previously competed and those who pledge higher amounts of sponsorship. Entry is at the sole discretion of the Secretary to the Event, who may reject an entry without giving any reasons.
The choice of crew is entirely at the discretion of the team except that the minimum age of any crew member is 9 years old. For a car team, any person licensed and insured to drive on the roads of Zambia is eligible to act as the driver.
Each team must designate one team member as the navigator who will receive the competitor’s map and Route Card.
Except with the written consent of the Secretary to the Event, all entries must be in the name of an individual and not a company. Commercial entries are not permitted.
A car team must consist of one vehicle and not less than 2 and not more than 6 team members including the driver.
A motorbike team must consist of not less than 3 and not more than 5 people and motorbikes, one person per motorbike.
Each team will be issued a team number by the Secretary to the Event which must be displayed on the car or motorbikes. Teams may request a team number but priority will be given to teams who have used a given Team Number in previous Elephant Charges.
The Fuchs Elephant Charge 2023 is run on a not-for-profit basis and its purpose is to raise money for Charge Charities.
An entry fee of $500 (reduced early-bird fee of $400 before August) must be paid by each team. The entry fee will be used by the organisers to pay for any event costs not covered by event sponsors.
Teams are required to pledge a minimum of $1,000 sponsorship at the time they enter the event. Teams will not be allowed to start the event unless their pledged sponsorship has been received. All sponsorship received by the event will be paid to the Charge Charities.
While entrants are encouraged to find and advertise their own sponsors, they MUST carry on their cars any advertising provided by the organisers.
Teams will take part entirely at their own risk. The arrangement of Personal Accident Insurance, Comprehensive Vehicle Insurance etc is the responsibility of the Competitor.
All teams must report to registration at the Charge location for sign-in, collection of pledges and fitting of GPS Tracking Devices between 11:00hrs and 15:00hrs on Friday.
Each team will be scrutineered, issued with sponsors material and fitted with a GPS Tracking Device.
At scrutineering, vehicles will be checked for the items listed under ELIGABILITY AND EQUIPMENT above.
Scrutineering for bike teams will include a check for suitable personal protective equipment for each rider. Each rider should report to scrutineering with all their equipment.
A Driver’s Briefing will be held at 17:00hrs on Friday. At the briefing each team will be issued with a course map showing the location and giving the coordinates of each of the 10 checkpoints and the HQ.
Each team will also be given their starting checkpoint by random draw and a route card which must be carried on the charge. Depending on their starting checkpoint, each team will be informed of their convoy letter (A, B, C etc) for the following morning.
Teams should study the map to decide on their route (checkpoints can be completed in any order) and identify the Tsetse-lines and Gauntlet.
On the race day, Saturday, teams will proceed to a designated assembly point near HQ by 05:30hrs. At the assembly point, teams will gather in their respective starting convoys – identified by convoy letter (A, B, C etc). They will then proceed in convoy to their Starting checkpoints by following an escort vehicle. Competitors will be started by the marshal at their checkpoint at 07:00 prompt.
Vehicles at each Starting checkpoint will be mass started, and teams will then choose their own route within the restrictions given elsewhere in the regulations, and may visit checkpoints in any order.
Teams must park their vehicles within the marked area at each checkpoint. At each checkpoint teams must have their Route Card filled in and signed by the Checkpoint Marshal.
Teams will only be judged to have visited a checkpoint if their Route Card is filled in and signed. Teams presenting an incomplete Route Card at HQ will be given a result of “DNF – Did Not Finish”.
A bike team will only be judged to have reached a checkpoint once the last bike in the team arrives. Bike teams may not leave the checkpoint until the last bike has arrived and the Route Card has been completed.
As a safety precaution, teams are required to declare their next intended checkpoint at the start of each leg. This is to enable the organisers to keep track of vehicles throughout the day and to monitor the progress of each vehicle in order that a search can be immediately called if any vehicle becomes unduly delayed on any leg.
In the interests of safety, the Clerk of the Course may instruct a Checkpoint Marshal to hold an entrant who is intending to commence a leg which could not possibly be completed before the end of the Charge. This decision will be made individually in each case by the Clerk of the Course, and their decision will be final.
There will be two Tsetse-lines on the course. These are legs between two checkpoints where a straight line traverse includes particularly challenging terrain. Teams do not have to complete the Tsetse Lines.
The Tsetse-lines will be identified during the Driver’s Briefing.
Special awards are made (and much respect gained) for the team with the shortest distance achieved for each of the two Tsetse-lines.
Three of the checkpoints on the course will together comprise the Gauntlet. To finish the course all teams must complete the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet checkpoints will be identified in the Driver’s Briefing.
Teams may traverse the Gauntlet by whichever route they choose and the Gauntlet checkpoints may be visited in any order but once started, teams must complete the Gauntlet before proceeding to any other checkpoint.
The distance travelled through the Gauntlet will be multiplied by three when calculating each teams total distance over the course.
To finish, each team vehicle must visit every checkpoint – in any order – and then return to their starting checkpoint making a complete circuit.
All the bikes and riders in a bike team must complete the course for that team to be considered to have finished.
The Charge finishes at 15:00hrs. Checkpoint Marshalls will not endorse Route Cards after this time and teams who have not completed a full circuit by this time will be recorded as “Did Not Finish”. All teams must report back to HQ as soon as possible after 15:00hrs on race day.
Teams who do not visit every checkpoint or do not return to their starting checkpoint will be marked “Did Not Finish” in the results.
Each team’s course distance (including the multiplied distance through the Gauntlet) and time is measured for the complete circuit from starting checkpoint back to starting checkpoint via all the intermediate checkpoints.
Having completed the course each team must return to HQ and check-in by returning their completed Route Card and have their GPS Tracking Device downloaded and removed from the vehicle.
Teams who do not report to HQ after coming off the course cannot be given a result or placing and will be recorded as “Did Not Finish”.
Failure to check-in at HQ will also trigger a search for that vehicle. It is therefore very important that, even in the case of an early retirement during the day, teams register with HQ as soon as they can after completing the event.
The winning team will be the one who completes the course in the shortest distance as determined by the Clerk of the Course. The official results announced at prize giving are final and no challenge or discussion of the results or awards will be entertained.
For reasons of safety, teams must comply with any and all instructions given by the Clerk of the Course or their representatives.
Teams may not receive any assistance from non-competitors except while stopped at checkpoints where teams may only be provided with:
Non-competitors may not assist competitors in any other way.
The Elephant Charge is a test of technique and not speed. For reasons of safety for competitors and spectators a speed limit of 40km/hr is enforced for all vehicles on and around the course.
Where evidence from the GPS Tracking Device shows any team to have repeatedly exceeded this speed limit then they may be disqualified at the discretion of the Clerk of the Course.
There will be Marshalls throughout the course and any entrant adjudged to have contravened the rules or the spirit of the event may be penalized or disqualified at the discretion of the Clerk of the Course.
Vehicles may be manhandled across the terrain by any means devised by the crew’s ingenuity, except that no outside assistance is permitted whether it is in mechanical, human or animal form, except that given by another competitor.
The following are examples of what will constitute an infringement:
The Clerk of the Course may require a team to pay compensation if they damage any property.
Everyone attending the Elephant Charge will be camping at the site and all competitors, supporters and spectators must bring their own camping equipment.
There will be a site entry fee of K100 per vehicle payable on entry. This entry fee will be donated to the local community who are hosting us at the site.
There will be a specific camping area set aside for entrants and their teams. All campers MUST TIDY UP their camp before departing, and leave the area perfectly clean. Do not leave the bags of rubbish at your campsites. Take them with you.
Sausage Tree Trophy for the Most Sponsorship Raised
The Rhino Charge Trophy for the Spirit of the Charge
TJM/Autoworld Treasure-Hunt Trophy
Castle-Fleming Trophy for the Shortest Distance
Country Choice Trophy for the Shortest Nett Distance (distance minus 50cm per 1 usd of sponsorship raised)
Silky Cup for the Shortest Distance by a Ladies Team
Sanctuary Trophy for the Shortest Distance on Tsetse-line 1
Khal Amazi Trophy for the Shortest Distance on Tsetse-line 2
Bowden Trophy for the Shortest Distance on the Gauntlet
Dean Cup for the Shortest Distance
Elli Trophy for the Shortest Nett distance (distance minus 50cm per 1 usd of sponsorship raised)
Shortest distance on Tsetse-line 1
Shortest distance on Tsetse-line 2
Shortest distance on Gauntlet
