There will be 30 car racing teams and 60 off-road motorcycle athletes participating in the Knock Out the King (KOK 2023) off-road racing event, which will take place at Ho Tram (Ba Ria – Vung Tau) on July 29-30.
On the evening of July 20, the organizers of the Knock Out the King – KOK off-road racing event announced information about KOK 2023. For the first time, the competition will be held at Tropicana Park Ho Tram, Xuyen Moc District, Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province, over a two-day period on July 29-30.
The teams will compete in a combination of rally (wild road racing) and off-road (overcoming treacherous terrain) on a specially designed course.
Similar to the 2022 event, KOK 2023 will involve 90 racing teams, comprising 30 car teams and 60 off-road motorcycle athletes. The total prize value for KOK 2023 is up to 300 million Vietnamese dong, with the championship team receiving 70 million dong.
At the KOK race, 2 off-road vehicles will have to directly compete with each other in parallel tracks.
Unlike most off-road racing events in Vietnam that involve time-trial courses, the appeal of KOK lies in intense and unpredictable head-to-head competition. In this competition, two off-road vehicles will directly race against each other on parallel tracks.
Particularly, during the qualifying round, if a racer is dissatisfied with their position in the lower group, they can challenge one of the top 4 racers. If they win, they will take the challenged racer’s position, but if they lose, they will be immediately eliminated. As a result, even the “king” can be dethroned if they make a mistake.
Athlete Nguyen Anh Tu with a Mitsubishi Triton is the defending champion of KOK 2022.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai (Hai Kar), the Head of the KOK 2023 organizing committee and a renowned off-road racer and vehicle review expert in Vietnam, stated that there are two important factors that set KOK apart. First is the inherent tension of competitive sports, and the second is speed, the most attractive element when it comes to racing.
“My goal is to create a professional playground for athletes to familiarize themselves with and gain early exposure to rally races in the region and the world. Based on the experience from previous years and seeing the improving skills of drivers, I am confident that the audience will be constantly thrilled with high-speed chases and intense racing during the two-day event,” Mr. Hai shared.
KOK is one of the most anticipated events in the motorsport community in Vietnam in general, and particularly among off-road racing enthusiasts over the past years.
This year marks the 5th season of KOK. The event had to be interrupted for 3 years due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic before resuming in 2022.
KOK 2023 receives technical and organizational support from experienced clubs in the field, such as the Hanoi Offroad Club, Vietnam Offroad Truck Club – PVC, Hanoi Enduro Cross Motorcycle Club, Vietnam Dune Buggy Community, and others.
@Vietnamnet
Related
Source: Vietnam Insider