As the lone female competitor at Off-Roading on the Farm IV, Karrell Bennett impressed her male counterparts and many of those watching.

“It was my first time driving the Jeep in competition. It was pretty fun,” Bennett said. The event took place over two days in Brighton River, St Elizabeth. The first day, October 26, provided a rustic camping experience, while day two, October 27, was a full out off-road competition in which Bennett participated.

“I love

off-roading. I think it’s pretty cool. It’s a manly kind of sport, but women

are kinda dipping their hands in everything now. Being a part of Wilmotorsports

it comes naturally as well,” she expounded on her reason for jumping into the

competition.

Armed with

the Wilmotorsports Jeep Wrangler she took on all the challenges, first gaining

a following from the female patrons and eventually winning over the male ones

by her attempt on the second set of challenges.

“It was a

pretty good feeling to have everyone cheering me on. It’s always good getting

encouragement as everyone wasn’t expecting a woman to go out there and take on

a man’s sport, so it was pretty cool. I enjoyed it.”

Over the day she was fourth in her first drive through the Swamp Crossing, being the first to blitz through the Hell Hole obstacle. “The Hell Hole was definitely the toughest challenge for me because going face down it seemed as if the water was really high and I was going to get stuck, but I went through like a breeze.”

Familiarity meant a better time on run two, placing her second. She continued on her crowd-pleasing ways, easily passing the Elephant Feet and expertly nailing the Balance Tyre challenge much to everyone’s delight. Parked on top of the tyres Bennett climbed out of the Jeep to soak in the cheers of the crowd, impacting her time, but appreciating the applause directed at her display of automotive dexterity. After placing second in that obstacle grouping she closed off the event third in Steps Challenge.

“I’d definitely do the event again. I’m up for anything with Wilmotorsports and off-roading. Next year I’m going to jump in and participate the same way and continue to be part of the whole off-roading scene. I would for sure encourage women to come out and participate. There are some of the challenges that were kinda tricky, but the adrenalin that you get doing all the challenges is pretty cool and gives you a good feeling especially as a woman in the sport.”

—Article written by Nichola Beckford