Fun in France

Fun in France

When the invite from Ardent Off-Road came through to join them in France for an off-roading weekend at Marquanterre I started to note down some of the things I needed to do to Deux Smurf in preparation, like a service and replacing a couple of steering bushes. Then I remembered that we’re skint and fuel alone would break the bank, so a press car it would have to be.

Because Parc du Marquenterre is a nature reserve with a myriad tracks made up of soft deep sand, my first thought was an Isuzu AT35, however none were available, so I figured a D-Max Huntsman complete with a 2” Pedders suspension lift and rear canopy would be the next best thing.

Friday morning arrived, and after throwing our camping gear and other essentials in the back of the D-Max we left at 7am for the 5-1/2 hour slog down the M6, M40, M25, M26 and finally the M20 into Dover.

After a calm crossing we docked into Calais at 3.30pm and made our way our campsite, du Champ Neuf in Saint-Quentin-enTourmont, arriving at 5pm ready for bite to eat and the odd pint of Guinness.

After introducing ourselves to Jon, Hattie and Sam from Ardent Off-Road and a few of the other customers we put up our brand new Robens Vista 400 tent and unpacked the D-Max. I’ll be honest, after the long and boring motorway slog it wasn’t long before I was wrapped up in my sleeping bag dreaming of difflocks and sand castles.

Saturday morning arrived bright and too early, and after breakfast and a mug of coffee we queued up outside the campsite’s indoor swimming pool ready for the off at 9am sharp.

After just a 10 minute drive in convoy we arrived at the park, and after helping ourselves to coffee and croissants we listened to the safety briefing. Once that was over we returned to our 4x4s, lowered our tyre pressures to 20psi, which didn’t do a lot for the 18” All Terrains on the D-Max. We were then split into two groups, allocated a group leader, which in our case were Hattie and Sam in the Ardent 110, and followed our park guide on his quad across the road and into the forest.

Making our way along the single track lane, the ground was hardpacked sand. I had the D-Max in ‘High 4WD’ to keep up with our eager guide.

Weaving our way through the forest we suddenly, and without warning, came up to our first obstacle, a shortish incline with a 90 degree left hand bend at the top. Granted, that doesn’t sound much of an obstacle, but when you add soft sand to the mix it becomes fun.

Still in third gear high the D-Max soon ran out of steam, and just as I reached the top it subsequently stalled. Popping it into low range I reversed downwards a couple of feet, slotted it into second gear and gently eased us up the hill.

The next vehicle made it but by then the hard surface of the sand had been lost which meant that the rest of the group struggled or simply became bogged.

Thankfully, for every challenge there’s always an easy escape route, but as the day progressed even those became chewed up and quite difficult.

Our next challenge was only a matter of yards away. After a tight right hand bend there was yet another hill, not huge but bigger than the last. At this stage I was 4th in line, so I watched as the other 4x4s charged up the incline throwing sand in the air with gusto.

In front of me was Craig in his Discovery 3 on low profile tyres, and after 3 failed attempts creating some decent sized ruts his Disco was having none of it, so he took to the easy road. It was my turn next.

I chose third gear low, and as I took the hard right-hand bend I floored it and the D-Max charged upwards throwing sand in every direction, things were looking good. Just as I reached the top though the revs died, I sank into the deep ruts and subsequently found the limits to the D-Max’s front suspension travel as the D-Max ground to a halt, literally. I changed down the second and waggled the steering from side to side in the hope to find some grip, but all that did was kick sand in the air to the point the front was resting on the sump guard. Not only that, but the rear wheels had dug themselves into the soft sand to the extent that I couldn’t actually reverse back down as I was stuck.

Although I wasn’t the first person to fail a climb, I was the first who had to be recovered - the shame!

From here we followed Craig in his D3 along the easy route to the next section, and as soon as I glanced at it I knew I didn’t stand a chance, of course I had to give it a go.

It was a much longer track, with a kink in middle that slowed you down in between two trees, then another short climb to the top where the challenges didn’t stop. As you reached the top there were more deep ruts to negotiate.

Leaving the D-Max at the bottom I ran to the top (nearly giving myself a coronary) just in time to watch Lee in his blue Discovery 2 put his winch into action to escape the ruts.

Next was Steve in his highly modified Ford Ranger, I think it took him two attempts and he was up and over. I gave it a try in both 2nd and 3rd gears and sank pretty much at the same spot not even reaching the kink with the trees, so again we followed Craig in his D3 to the next section.

And that’s pretty much how the morning carried on, the sections were relentless, some I managed, some I sank (again) and others I simply thought “Nah!”

As the bigger Discoverys drove each section, more deep opposing ruts would form as their bigger than standard tyres dug deep, this was bad news for the D-Max and Craig in the D3, so it was decided that we should be in the lead which would give us half a chance.

In a lot of the following sections this worked well as we climbed the dunes with relative ease, but on others we just made it. If you ever want to practice driving on sand then you need to book this weekend with Ardent Off-Road, it’s fun, safe and a damn sight cheaper than going to the Sahara!

By now I was getting into the swing of it and learning what the D-Max could do, and more importantly what it couldn’t.

Stopping for lunch gave us the opportunity to relax and catch up with the other group. The weather remained quite hot and passing clouds gave me a bit respite from the heat and an excuse not to put sun cream onto my dusty face and arms.

The afternoon was filled with more tracks, more dunes, and heaps more fun. At one point our guide led us to an open area with numerous tracks heading up into the trees, Muddy Madam and I decided to sit this one out and take photos. It was here where one of our group, and I’ve forgotten your name, sorry, got out his RC Wrangler and proceeded to show the rest of us what a ‘proper’ 4x4 can do!

On the subject of proper 4x4s, although the D-Max is a very capable pick up, it’s current set up on 18” tyres really wasn’t suited for this type of terrain, I was wishing for the XTR that I reviewed last month. With its taller lift and 32” all terrain tyres it would have been much more capable on the soft sand.

Arriving at another section the D-Max again ran out of clearance and grip, a few more vehicles decided to go the easy route, which chewed that up too! When it was my turn to leave the section I ended up sliding a bit too close to a tree, but people power helped push me to safety. I wasn’t out of the woods yet mind (pun intended), I was at the bottom of a track and after 4 attempts I just couldn’t get over the top, and each time I was reversing further and further up the opposite banking so I could get a longer run up. Just as I was about to make another attempt, the group jumped on the track and began filling in the ruts and smoothing off the top in preparation for a ‘full-on’ attack. The problem I was finding with the D-Max was that 3rd gear was a smidge too high and would run out of puff, whilst 2nd was too low and I couldn’t get the speed I needed. Before you say anything, ‘cos I know what you’re like, yes I tried starting in 3rd and changing down, but the sand was so soft that as soon as I did that I lost all momentum.

Anyway, thanks to the track building effort of the group I just about made it on the 5th attempt, with a couple of the lads behind pushing me up the last metre or so.

Behind me and last vehicle in this section was Craig in his D3. He struggled like me, and had to perform a little body removal surgery to get to the front recovery eye so that I could tow him up and out on to harder ground.

In my group, the most competent 4x4 had to be the Ardent Defender 110 with Sam behind the wheel, he managed every climb, maybe not on first attempt, but still. The rest of the Discovery 2s managed pretty much everything.

After around 6 more sections our guide led us to the last challenge of the day, it was what can only be described as a huge sand bowl in which we could, well, mess about in. I took one look at how soft it was and thought better of it and decided to let everyone else have a play whilst again I took photos. Unfortunately, this is where we had the first breakdown, and it was Craig in his Discovery 3 that blew a drive shaft, I think. Due to, umm, reasons, it took quite a while for the group to recover him, but when he was finally free of the giant sand pit we all made our way to the main road and back to the campsite for a well earned shower!

Although the evening’s entertainment was supposed to be a group BBQ, there were a few different friendship groups who chose to do their own thing, and after a quick burger with a few of them it was time for bed, it had been a long, but exciting day.

The following morning Muddy Madam had a quick breakfast, packed the tent, said our goodbyes and enjoyed a quiet and scenic drive back to Calais, stopping off at a small pâtisserie for some treats for the ferry.

Although the D-Max is a tough and capable truck, I felt the tyre size and manual gearbox let it down - the tyre size mainly. If I was to go again, proper sized all terrain tyres, ground clearance and good articulation are the name of the game. Also, a pair of good quality boots, the sand is soft and goes everywhere!

There isn’t much information on-line about about Parc du Marquenterre except for the occasional video on YouTube, but every year they cover the tracks with a fresh layer of sand, and almost every weekend they have 4x4 tours come and play from all over Europe.

Overall we had a brilliant time, despite having the least practical 4x4, and I wouldn't hesitate to go again.