Rally banned in other countries, brought by the Austrians to Romania, disguised as a tourist circuit

A new example of defiance of the Romanian authorities, in full swing, is in the field of sports. The Austrians place an off-road competition in Romania, disguised as a trip through the wild lands of the East, to escape the rigors and responsibilities they would have as organizers. Participants are warned that they are coming “to a poor country” where they “share the road with animals of all kinds.”

Since Sunday, the Carpathian mountains in the Banat area have come under the “occupation” of the SuperKarpata Trophy for a week, a competition of machines that scour the wildest places, hard to penetrate by human foot. Off-road racing, which involves driving a car or motorcycle through wild, rough terrain, has been “banished” from many countries, primarily because of environmental aggression. To limit the destructive effects, where they are accepted, the competitions are strictly controlled by the national sports federations, which take responsibility for the organization, the checking of the machines and the protection of the participating athletes. But the “smart guys” appear here as well, who found a solution to get rid of the obligations and responsibilities incumbent on them as organizers by placing off-road competitions in the form of picturesque “tourist circuits” in Romania, as they promote themselves and SuperKarpata Trophy.

How do we find off-road tracks that go out of control?

For several years, until “the Romanians caught on”, a company from Austria started organizing car circuits in Romania through picturesque areas, which, however, have a competitive character and genuine off-road elements. This kind of trips through protected areas or natural parks are prohibited or drastically restricted in Austria, Switzerland, Germany because of their aggressiveness on the environment and the opposition of the local population. The pandemic stopped the “tradition” and now the SuperKarpata Trophy has resumed, in which crews from 9 countries participate. The route is attractive and full of moments that can increase the adrenaline – in an area of ​​thousands of square kilometers in the southeastern Carpathians, in the Caraș-Severin area of ​​Banat. The “polishing” in which the participation conditions are packaged cannot hide the organizer’s desire to evade responsibility for possible aggressions on protected areas and natural parks, highlighted precisely by the determination to remove the race from the control of the Romanian Motor Sports Federation (FRAS).

Well defined status for car competitions

According to the law, sport is an activity of national interest, supported by the Romanian state, and the national sports federations are structures of national interest and public utility. The federation’s statute states: “FRAS is the only sports structure of national interest authorized to regulate, organize and control the entire sports motoring activity carried out on the territory of Romania”. Next, it is explicitly mentioned that motor sports includes “all the races, competitions, contests, parades, events, demonstrations held on the territory of Romania, which are completed by establishing a record, ranking or hierarchy, assigned by the organizers to the participants in competition cars, based on the criteria imposed and accepted by them, prior to the sports competition”.

The off-road races are part of these competitions and they are included in the FRAS calendar and are coordinated by the National Off-road Commission of the federation, which collaborates with the central and local authorities to ensure the safety of the participants and compliance with environmental regulations.

We walk through the woods, we don’t compete!

The company from Austria that mobilizes the participants in the SuperKarpata Trophy evades these control and regulatory requirements, declaring with its own strength that this competition is not a sports competition, but a simple “tourist expedition”, with the aim of getting to know the beauties of our homeland. To strengthen the tourist character, the “historical” leaf launched with scandal by Elena Udrea to promote the country brand is also announced on the Trophy’s website. Unlike other off-road competitions, participants in the event in question have the freedom to choose a route by receiving maps showing their travel corridor. At SuperKarpata the competitor, tied by time as a ranking criterion to get the trophy, finds his way through the corridor with his own navigation equipment, so he has a route of his own choosing. The corridor areas are mostly forested, hilly and mountainous, but populated.

How do you say you’re not a colonel when you are a colonel?

Precisely this kind of competition where the competitors choose their own route, inside the corridor announced by the organizer, with wide limits (thousands of square kilometers) is the most dangerous element both for the competitors and for the environment and the population. Competitors can thus enter private property, pastures, protected areas or find themselves in dangerous situations for their own safety. For these reasons “expeditions” of this kind are restricted in many countries or, to enter the acceptance zone, they are subject to the strict rules of off-road competitions. In fact, the SuperKarpata Trophy is also included by the organizing company from Austria in a calendar intended only for “off-road racing”, which does not want to recognize this nature of competition when it comes to Romania. We are in the paradox of “Becali’s axiom”: how to say that you are not a colonel when you are a colonel?

Obviously, a dispute is looming between FRAS and the organizer of the competition, since Mulller Hartburg Dienstleistungsgesellschaft mbH, with its registered office in Austria, has chosen a legal seat at a law firm in Timișoara, with a connection to the town hall led by userist Fritz .

Offensive Austrian guide to Romania: poverty, maximum caution in cities!

The “wonderland” that SuperKarpata Trophy competitors are invited to discover is presented as an area of ​​high risk. Participants are warned and instructed how to proceed after leaving the Schengen area, the protector of civilization, where the “natives” have no access through the “care” of the Austrian government.

We quote some of the recommendations from the SuperKarpata Trophy website, not at all flattering for the host country of the “unique event at the world level”, which “is not just a sporting event, but a great festival that involves the Romanian people”. How is the “festival” presented?

“In large cities, as of course in poorer countries, general caution is advised.” Then the participants must know that “the situation in local hospitals does not correspond to European standards”, and money exchanges are done only at banks. Another valuable piece of information for car drivers coming to the competition is that they will encounter “horse-drawn carriages” on the roads and are in a position to “share the road with animals of all kinds”.

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