Land Rover off-roaders conquer Malaysia

MANILA, Philippines - Father-and-son off-roaders Larry and Hirryan Mendiola made an impact on their first team-up abroad, driving Team Land Rover Philippines to its best-ever finish of second overall in the recent Rainforest Challenge (RFC) of Malaysia 2010.

With veteran Larry handling the steering wheel and fast-rising co-driver Hirryan taking care of the winch, Team Land Rover assembled 2109 points in the 10-day, multi-stage event held in Johor Bahru to finish runner-up to local bets Chai Mun Shin and Linus Ngieng Hok Taur of Sarawak (2347).

“This is my biggest achievement in the RFC,” said the 44-year-old Larry, who improved on his previous placing of fifth, although in partnership with a different co-driver.

“What makes it even more significant was that the competition was a lot tougher this time, with a lot of challenging special stages and, of course, Hirryan was there and he was very helpful,” he added.

Larry and Hirryan have actually worked as a unit before in local competitions but the RFC Malaysia, considered the world’s longest and hardest 4 X 4 off-road extreme competition, was their first foreign campaign together.

Riding a Defender 90, Team Land Rover Philippines made its presence felt as early as the two-day Prologue Special Stages, where only 20 out of the 35 teams survived and advanced to the jungle race proper.

The Mendiolas and their teammates, mechanic Dennis Javier and photographer Igor Maminta, were feted and presented to the media yesterday by LR Phils Motors, Inc., led by chairman and president Wellington Soong and executive director Marc Soong.

“Year after year, the RFC has gotten tougher and the competition stronger, For our team to place runner-up is nothing short of a landmark victory and is hopefully a step towards the championshiop someday,” said Marc Soong, who also handed the team members P50,000 for their feat.

Wellington Soong,for his part, challenged the team to “go for the ultimate prize next time.”