In a few days the 2019 Ultra4 Europe championship will start with the BF Goodrich King of Spain Les Comes. With the start of the races, in addition to the points for the championship, the European teams will be able to play for the chance to participate in the King of the Hammers 2020. Let's find out how.

Photography and story by Paolo Baraldi

As you will remember, it all started last year in Portugal when Dave Cole announced that the best team in each European country could participate in the King of the Hammers. At the KOH 2019 Ultra4 Europe brought 6 crews to Johnson Valley: Nicolas Montador (F), Iñaki Lanzagorta Egia (E), Neville Ciantar (M), Daniel Roderick (UK), Michael Hen (IL) and the Vekeman brothers (B).

Also this year, the European teams in the 4400 class will be able to take the chance to participate in the King of the Hammers 2020. With the help of Richard Crossland, U4E Managing Director, we try to understand how these crews will be selected.

“This year we run the road to the hammers competition.

What is #roadtothehammers?

· This is a competition for all 4400 competitors who race in the BFGoodrich Tires Ultra4 European Championship

· You qualify by competing in at least 3 of the championship races.

· You are competing against fellow countrymen.

· The highest placed race team from each country that races in the championship wins.

· They then get the chance to race in the ‘big one’. The iconic King of the Hammers.

What you get:

· Shipping from & to a central location in europe to the lakebed. The home of King of the hammers.

· Guaranteed place in the race.

· Pit location and pit tent in the Team Europe area.

· Access to all the best experts in the business to help make your car even better.

· All you pay for is your entry fee and all personal expenses: fly tickets, fuel, food etc.

· If you want to have a qualifying position and not start from the back of the grid you can also pay for qualifying.”

Any further questions please email to richard@ultra4euope.com

Nitto King of the Hammers is considered the toughest one-day off-road race in the world, combining extreme rock crawling with high-speed desert racing in one action packed event. Set against a backdrop of dramatic, rugged terrain, over 50,000 people gather from around the world in the makeshift desert city known as Hammertown. Since its inception King of the Hammers has morphed into an entire week of competitive events and a destination for motorsports enthusiasts from a wide variety of backgrounds.

ULTRA4 is a vehicle type, a class, and an International race series. ULTRA4 Racing was born from the popularity of the annual Nitto King of the Hammers, the toughest one-day off-road race in the world. In just a little over a decade, the sport has grown from the single King of the Hammers race to a seven race national series and four International King of the Hammers qualifiers. The vehicles are unlimited four-wheel drive creations, capable of competing in multiple racing disciplines, from extreme rock crawling, to high-speed desert racing, to short course. ULTRA4 Racing is managed by Hammerking Productions located in Temecula, CA.

In 2012 the first Ultra4 style race took place in Europe, in Wales. For 2 years the King of Valleys represented Ultra4 Racing in Europe making all the fans of the old continent of King of the Hammers happy. In 2013 the King of Portugal is added and in 2014 Ultra4 Europe was born and the first Ultra4 championship in Europe with 3 races: King of the Mountains (IT), King of Valleys (UK) and King of Portugal (P). Today, Ultra4 Europe is an important reality in the European off-road world. 2019 will be very interesting with the confirmation of King of France but with a new interesting location, King of Portugal and King of Poland and with the new entry of the Spanish King of Spain. Finally, Ultra4 Europe will back to its original home. The Ultra4 King of Britain 2019 will be running a monster course around the terrain offered by Walters Arena.

BF Goodrich Tires is the 2019 title sponsor of the off-road racing event series. The partnership will span five “King” events across Europe this year. With more than 100 years of heritage, BFGoodrich Tires is dedicated to providing high performance tires for those who have a passion for driving in virtually any environment. Combining technical expertise with 45 years of motorsports experience, BFGoodrich delivers tires for a full range of driving experiences from ultra-high performance street to off-road terrain with one common theme – extreme performance.

More to read:

ULTRA4 EUROPE CLASSES AND POINTS

SNEAK PEEK AT SOME U4E RIGS

BF GOODRICH TIRES NAMED THE 2019 TITLE SPONSOR OF ULTRA4 EUROPE

ULTRA4 EUROPE, SEASON 2019

TEAM EUROPE AT KOH 2019

ULTRA4 EUROPE STORY