We spoke with the organizers of the hard enduro race Gucevo Challenger, which since 2016 has been traditionally held every year in April, on the slopes of Gucevo Mountain near Loznica.
To start the conversation, tell us how you decided to go into organizing this kind of event?
Following the model of the surrounding races and the first in Serbia Xross Challenge, we get the idea to promote this sport, as well as to give pleasure to other riders from all over Serbia and other surrounding countries on one of the most interesting mountains in Serbia. Our first race was good response, 165 drivers from 8. surrounding countries tried out at Gucevo.
We are on the threshold of the fifth edition of Guchevo Challenger. What experiences do you draw from previous years, and will there be any changes to the organization of the race itself?
Yes, there will be some changes, as in every sport, so we try to improve the event every year. From branding to GPS, security services, and the prologue we always focus on and strive to always be top notch and we are recognizable. Of course there are always bugs that we analyze and try not to repeat.
As for the route itself. Can we expect some changes in the weight of the track for both categories?
The trail is already made just to mark it to the end. There are plenty of new sections for all classes, riders are constantly progressing so the quality of the track and the organization itself must keep pace.
We know there were a lot of complaints about the visibility of the mark last year. Have you saved any new strips and signs this year?
Yes, last year the marking was not noticeable and if we tried to put a lot of strips. Early vegetation and a dry-fast track helped to keep the yellow strips from drowning in the leafy forest. This year we decided to change the color of the strips and signs with the hope that they would be much more noticeable.
From the very beginning, Gucevo was visited by drivers from surrounding countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia? Are there any driver announcements from other countries?
We have announcements. In previous years we had drivers from Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, so we expect them again.
What are your plans for the future? Are you going to take the race to another level?
We are working on it, our wish is something new and bigger to do, but let it remain a secret for now.
Finally, tell us, do you have any back up plans in case this current Covid-19 virus situation continues in April?
This unfortunate event that has hit the whole world, including us, has disturbed many things. We were worth it, and by this point, 70% of the trail had been completed. We will wait to see how long our state of emergency will last in our environment, so we will make a decision accordingly. The races will certainly be only depending on the situation when we see. All announcements about the race will be on our website www.hardenduro.rs, fb and istagram as well as on the Bakan Hard Enduro portal.
Thank you, hopefully everything goes according to plan and we get to the start line on April 25th.
