Invitation as pdf-file

For the third time Northern Finland Off Road Association and Off Road Oulu invite all 4x4 and ATV drivers to off road orienteering and endurance competition in Raajärvi. Lapland Trophy offers unique environment to the competitors, large competition area gives interesting challenges for all participants in every class. Raajärvi is situated in Northern Finland, Lapland.

Lapland Trophy is the second competition of the Finnish Off-Road Orienteering-CUP series this year.

Competition center is in the Old Mining Village in Raajärvi, the best off road center in Finland. The Old Mining Village in Raajärvi has accommodation facilities, fully licensed restaurant and excellent possibilities to repair vehicles in a village garage.

Raajärvi is located 65 kilometers from Rovaniemi, first 41 km towards Kemijärvi (road number 4 until Vikajärvi, then road number 82), and then to the right from Misi (road number 9444) for 24 kilometers.

Competition center KKJ-coordinates are E3495969 and N7385179, WGS 84 coordinates are E026 degrees 54.321 minutes and N66 degrees 33.469 minutes. Please note that there can be so called "blind spots" in GSM network in the competition area. We recommend using Sonera GSM network, which works the best in the area.

Map link to Raajärvi: Karttapaikka

Raajärvi area is owned by Ministry of Forestry; which is a state enterprise that administers more than 12 million hectares of state-owned land and water areas. There are large areas in Raajärvi that can be used for off road driving. There are plenty of control points; no-one can pick up all of them during the competition. Control points have differing values of competition points, depending how easy or difficult it is to reach.

The participants are given a map and a form of control points before the start. Each team needs to plan their own route, and decide which control points they want to pick up. Control points can be found using traditional orienteering techniques, but the usage of GPS-devices and computerised methods are allowed. GPS -coordinates of the control points and the maps are available on paper.

A visit to the control point is proven by digital camera; the competitors have to take a picture of the control points where they have visited. Orienteering-CUP rules state that the control point picture must be taken so that both the car and the control point sign are touched with hands. The pictures must be of good quality to minimise any possibilities of misinterpretation. The competitors add up the competition points from the control points which they have visited on a summary sheet, and give the summary sheet and pictures to organisers for results checking immediately after the finish. In this way the results are as reliable as possible and results are available as soon as possible.

The competitors are asked to register themselves as soon as possible; the normal registration deadline is 20.6.2007. Registration is possible also later, but then the registration fees will not include t-shirts or caps. Last possible registration date is 20.7.2007.

Lapland Trophy will use Finnish Off-Road Orienteering-CUP rules, see http://www.4x4cup.com/ for details. CUP-rules are being translated to English; other translations are possible but not likely.

The jury consists of three members: Paavo Leinonen, Teppo Rapo and Peter Knoblock.

Control point area location can be found from the competition web pages.

Possible changes or exceptions to the CUP-rules will be informed in the competition web pages and in the driver’s meeting.

There will be about 200 control points, and these are the same for all classes.

Nearest petrol stations are in Vikajärvi, Pirttikoski and Kemijärvi.

All four CUP-classes (Original, Standard, Modified, Prototype) are driven, and also SafariOrienteering and ATV classes.

Competitors may not locate control points before start, possible violations will be punished.

Finishing after the finish time will be punished by 5 points for each minute.

In SafariOrienteering and ATV classes control point picture must be taken of all vehicles in the team, but vehicles do not need to be in the same picture, also several pictures can be taken. In SafariOrienteering and ATV classes the team must stay together during the whole competition. Possible discontinuance needs permission from the jury, the rest of the team can continue only if there are at least 2 vehicles left.

Small SafariOrienteering
2-4 vehicles per team that are registered and have valid MOT taxed and insurance. Maximum wheel diameter is 838mm. It is enough to have one driver in each vehicle.

Big SafariOrienteering
2-4 vehicles per team that are registered and have valid MOT taxed and insurance. Maximum wheel diameter is 915mm. It is enough to have one driver in each vehicle.

ATV
2-4 insured and street use registered or temporary license plate equipped ATV. Exhaust pipe must not leak any sparks that could start a forest fire. Drivers must wear proper protection equipment: racing suit, helmet, chest armour and footwear. It is recommended to use transparent map covers to keep maps and control point forms dry and usable for the whole competition.

Contact information:
• http://www.laplandtrophy.com/
• This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Tel. +358-40-848 9389

Organisation
• Director: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Control points: Jarmo Niskanen
• Service: Heikki Silvola
• Maps: Teppo Rapo

The three highest scoring teams in each class will receive a prize.

Best Regards,
Northern Finland Off Road Association (Pohjois-Suomen Off Road Yhdistys) and Off Road Oulu