Extreme Off-Roading, The Maxxis Tough Truck Challenge

There’s nothing quite like the art of off-roading, and Maxxis Tires Philippines (in partnership with the National Association of Filipino Off-Roaders or NASFOR) ups the ante by bringing Filipino off-road enthusiasts the annual Tough Truck Challenge – an extreme off-roading competition that involves participants driving their personal rigs through a hardcore course of pits, cliffs and dirt, while vying for the best time.

Last December, the event was held in Bamban, Tarlac, with Zoocobia as the official venue host. It is the 13th year the annual Tough Truck Challenge has been running, and drivers, team principals, navigators, crew, family members and spectators all congregated with contagious enthusiasm as they celebrated the joys of pushing off-road-driving limits in healthy competition.

“Maxxis put a lot of effort into the discipline of extreme off-roading here in the country,” remarked NASFOR president Ramon To-Ong. “They are visible, their products are related to this discipline, and our partnership helps this discipline grow further – because Maxxis makes it more professionalized...they show that they care about this discipline,” he explained.

North Trend Marketing Corp., the exclusive distributor of Maxxis Tires in the Philippines, has always been known to support Filipino off-roading passion, and the evidence is clear in its multiple light commercial vehicle product offerings. “Maxxis supports Motocross, Lateral Drift and off-roading internationally,” pointed out Maxxis Tires Philippines marketing manager AJ Laranas during an interview at the Tough Truck event. “Here in the Philippines, we tapped NASFOR, and we support them as advocates of off-roading,” he added.

Laranas further explained that Maxxis identifies itself as ‘a brand of champions,’ and since “A lot of Filipinos are championing this sport,” it only came naturally that Maxxis Tires would become a major and dedicated sponsor of the annual Tough Truck event.

First of all, the unique tread pattern on Maxxis tires contain stone ejectors that provide protection against tread cap damage from sharp rocks, while large shoulder lugs and its proprietary sidewall design provide unrivaled side bite when the vehicle finds itself in extreme lean. A unique multi-edged knob design and side arrangement meanwhile improves traction on slippery surfaces—making sure that water is efficiently channeled out of the tread, for exceptionally strong, no-slip grip.

One set of M8090 “creepy crawler” size-35 Maxxis tires were included in the pot prize of the competition. The tread pattern of this tire model is specifically designed for serious rock crawling and extreme mud terrain.

Furthermore, this one-of-a-kind, extreme off-roading challenge was joined by delightfully unique characters—one of which was 76-year-old Swiss-Italian Johnny Ferrazzini, often referred to as Tito Johnny, Papa Johnny, Dad or simply Lols. He has been based in Davao since 1946, currently owns the largest bakeshop in the province (Merco’s), and is a self-professed avid off-road addict who builds his own trucks, and ships his rig all the way from Davao to the event premises (be it Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao) just to join as many races as he can. “This is my last hoorah!” remarked a lively Ferrazzini. “I am 76. These guys are half my age!” he exclaimed.

When asked about his motivations, Ferrazzini was quick to reply that he likes the companionship the most. His first shot at extreme off-roading was filling-in for his son’s friend (aboard a Toyota Land Cruiser with a regular body) who had at that time, had a broken foot. “Since then,” he explained, “I decided to build and destroy my own car. It is a quest of never-ending repair!”

Ferrazzini ranked 10th in the elimination round, and finished sixth in the finals. The top three winners of the Philippine Tough Truck Challenge were: 1 – Roger Peyra; 2- Jojo Javier and 3 – Pat de la Pena.

People like Ferrazzini are inspiring examples of how passion may overcome age when it comes to this unique motorsport. When asked to articulate the highlight of such a niche sport, he simply uttered “Have you ever been kissed by mud?”