While the Borneo Safari remains one of the most challenging events on Malaysia’s off-roading calendar, a small convoy of vehicles makes it through the forests of Borneo, quietly and efficiently.
This is the media convoy spearheaded by three Isuzu D-MAX. Liveried this year with a gorilla motif, the vehicles plough through all the obstacles of the eight-day event with tenacity and without fuss, keeping the media safe and comfortable as they cross rivers, rocks, ravines or plains. Remarkably, the media Isuzu D-MAX are usually driven not by hired guns or professional off-roaders, but in most cases, by members of the media themselves, many of whom have never driven off sealed asphalt surfaces in their lives.
According to Executive Director of Isuzu Malaysia Hajime Machimura, the Isuzu D-MAX has done an exemplary job of keeping the media abreast with the action deep in the jungle for the past nine years. It goes about its job with clockwork routine, thanks to its superior 4×4 capabilities that makes it the vehicle of choice for the media.
According to Borneo Post writer Patricia Peng Hului who covered the event for the first time this year, being an off-roading greenhorn was intimidating but once behind the wheels of the Isuzu D-MAX, her confidence immediately grew. This was echoed by Ruslan Lusi of Harian Metro who confessed to having experienced off-roading before but never encountered such capabilities displayed by the Isuzu D-MAX.
With its low centre of gravity and excellent torque delivery, the Isuzu D-MAX remains sure-footed and predictable without even a hint of drama despite the numerous muddy ridges and narrow pathways.
The Borneo Safari has been Asia’s premier off-road event with a history that stretches 25 years. Isuzu Malaysia has been the Diamond Sponsors of the event for the last four years although the association stretches nearly a decade when the first Isuzu D-MAX was used to ferry members of the media back in 2006.
