RoadStars Trophy Finale 2018 – even more tasks and lofty heights

Team skills, brains and brawn – the finalists for the RoadStars Trophy 2018 will be proving they're up to the various challenges.

People sitting there silently eating breakfast? Unheard of at the RoadStars Trophy. One after the other, the 14 men aged between 25 and 47 join the table. Each new arrival is greeted by a friendly "Morning, how's it going?" and then everyone continues chatting. The call to head off to the warm-up task is issued by the games master Christopher, but no-one notices and he has to make himself heard a second time: "Guys, time for tug of war – come on, let's go!"

The blooming field next to the chicken coop is the where the warm-up round is held. A total of seven nationalities will be pulling on both ends of the rope. Marek from Opole (Poland): "Oh – all the bigger lads are on the other side. We could do with an eighth man over here!"

Meet in the middle.

He's right – with their war cry of "Ho – ho – ho", the "heavy" group pulls the colleagues three times over the marking. Everyone laughs – it was a nice way to warm up. The next stage takes the team to the exterior wall of the hotel whose foundations were laid in 1674. Things are about to get really sporty here: time for some archery. Christian, the brother of the hotel's boss Jorge, explains the technique.

A new challenge for the majority of them, as hardly any of them have ever had to use this contraption from the Stone Age. "Having a strategy here is going to be difficult. It's going to require concentration and aiming for the bull's eye," says Ionel from Constanța (Romania), at which the other colleagues laugh. Concentrate – and fire. Once, twice, three times. Then change. Continual applause comes from the rest of the group. Cosmin from Bucharest (Romania) hands over to Mirko with a high-five – here, everyone wishes each other good luck. At the end of the event, the highest scores are held by the Italian and Romanian teams.

The trainer is amazed.

The RoadStars Trophy of course also features tasks involving trucks, and to carry those out, the participants of the 2018 finale need space. That space can be found at the foot of the Montserrat mountains, where Günni and his driving instructors have prepared a little something for the participants. "Höfchen" (literally: Courtyard) is the name of the first exercise, as part of which they have to turn a tractor unit around in a space measuring just ten metres squared. Christian is the first to attempt it. He shifts up upon entering the area, pulls into the far-right corner, pushes backwards, needs a few steering movements, gear changes and vigorous steps on the pedals, before leaving the area after 44.5 seconds. Incredulous amazement on the face of the driving instructor and a deep bow – no-one has ever managed that before!

Meanwhile, Daniel is trying out the remote control task on the mini truck track. Staying well within the lines, first with just the mini Actros, but then also with a trailer. And it works a treat!

Next up: the saw.

Alongside the red Arocs tipper is the community task: the majority of RoadStars users want the 14 finalists to cut up a tree trunk. It's a real challenge to stand opposite each other and move the saws in the right angle across the wood – especially in these temperatures! Christian and Tim start, but the trestle stars moving around. Marek and Mateusz jump in to keep the tree trunk and frame firmly in place. That's exactly the spirit of the RoadStars Trophy – everyone helps each other out!

Moving out of the sun, the team get into the funicular railway and ride up onto the mountain. Here, at the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, things are a little cooler and there are also some refreshments on hand. And they are urgently needed as the finalists again have to give all they have. In the next train, they will climb to almost 1000 metres above sea level. Hanging from the rockface are climbing ropes – what now? Climbing up there? Climbing instructors Fransesc and Xavi explain the task and demonstrate the technique. "No worries, you'll be properly equipped with rock-climbing gear. Plus, we'll secure you with the rope."

Mountain air.

"What happens when we're up there – how do we get back down: climbing or walking?" asks Cosmin, who is in the process of getting ready together with Ionel. "You'll have to lean back and simply walk back down the rockface. The time is only calculated on the way up, though." Three, two, one – go! It's as if the two Romanians learned to walk in the mountains – they quickly and smoothly climb their way up the steep rockface to the uppermost point of the safety line, located at a height of roughly 30 metres. "Stop" shouts Ionel first, followed by Cosmin. A resounding applause comes from all – that was truly artistic.

Later in the hotel, the group enjoy a BBQ and some cold drinks while discussing each individual task in depth. As well as, of course, the question as to who is currently in the lead. But there are almost two full days ahead of them before the winner is crowned and so all of them enjoy a relaxing evening together. Roland explains: "At the beginning, we all had to think about which name belonged to which face, and which person spoke which language. Those were the first few tentative steps. But now we've all grown into a real team and are having a great time."

Photos: Sebastian Vollmert
Video: Martin Schneider-Lau