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The origin of Quatrocross
The name Quattrocross was inspired by motorsport terms like "motocross" and "autocross," with "Quattro" linked to 4WD due to the Audi Quattro's rally debut.
Where did the sport of Quattrocross come from? Where, when and how did it start? Leonard
Quattrocross was developed in the 1980s, in Kenya. It stemmed from the first ever Kenya Motorshow at the old Embakasi Racetrack on the outskirts of Nairobi, which featured exhibit stands down the sides of the racetrack’s main straight, the staging of the Concours d’Elegance down the middle, and a 4WD obstacle course in a quarry off to one side where exhibitors could demonstrate the off-road antics of the models they were selling.
Many thousands of spectators attended the two-day event, but the stands did not capture their attention for very long because there was a blanket ban on imported vehicles at that time, and local assemblers were only licenced to build commercial vehicles – pick-ups, panel vans, trucks, buses and some 4WD utilities. No passenger cars. And the Concours lasted only a couple of hours.
The entire crowd decamped to the quarry and stayed there, thoroughly entertained by the antics as drivers attempted to get their vehicles up and down rocky slopes, small cliffs, tricky traverses, and through deep ponds and muddy wallows.
The challenges were not mild; a senior test driver from Leyland UK had been invited to assess the proposed course in advance and had declared it “too difficult and too dangerous” for non-professionals.
The show organisers were grateful for his expert opinion, but did not agree with it. The original course was used, with some added scary bits; there were endless dramas, cheers and laughter, quite a lot of push and shove and tow, but no deaths. The only thing that got injured was pride.
Several spectators asked for permission to bring their own vehicles from the car park to have a go, but insurance conditions did not permit that.
So, after the show, the organisers modified the “demonstration” format into a “contest” - open to the pubic – as a fully regulated and registered motorsport.
The name Quattrocross was chosen because it had motorsport resonance with already common “motocross” for motorcycles and “autocross” for cars, and Quattro was immediately associated with 4WD because of the very high-profile arrival of the Audi Quattro on the world rally scene at that time.
Several dozen contestants (aged between 14 and 70, all races and genders) entered in a hotch-potch of 4WDs chariots, and thousands came to watch.
The rag-tag contestants not only dared to get round the “too dangerous” course demarcated by pegs and tapes and rules about stopping and reversing etc. – they started to race!
The events were run several times a year, and they were so popular that the organisers were asked if the concept could be taken to a bigger stage – as a fund-raising stunt to promote the Rhino Ark’s project to fence the Aberdare Mountain range.
A diverse committee was assembled, several options were considered and tested, and the final outcome was what is now known as the “Rhino Charge”, which has become something of a global legend that has run annually in the wilderness for nearly four decades, is always fully subscribed, and has raised more than 2 billion (sic) shillings to complete the fencing of the Aberdares...and Mt Kipipiri, and Mt Kenya, and Mt Eburru – all “Water Tower” forests essential to sustaining Kenya’s rivers and lakes and everything that depends on those. The work and the sport - now into their third generation - continue.
