Monster Jam brought its world-famous monster trucks and the whole monster truck racing circus to the UAE on 13 & 14 May 2023. Massive monster trucks performed gravity-defying stunts with their engines roaring and rubber burning, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. With this event, Monster Jam marked its comeback to the UAE for the first time after 2013.
The world of motorsport and racing is one that’s filled with excitement and adrenaline. Traditional motorsport forms like circuit racing and rallying often become serious sports and certainly aren’t enthralling for all age groups. However, monster truck racing is more of a family motorsport event and it is easy for everyone to enjoy it. At the end of the day, it is more entertaining than traditional racing.
Monster truck racing has its roots in the US where pickup trucks and SUVs were modified in the 1970s for mud-plugging events. These trucks slowly started becoming bigger, with monstrous wheels, and a few small shows were held in the 1980s.
In 1992, the Monster Jam series was first held and since then, there’s been no looking back for monster truck racing. The series is owned by Feld Entertainment and is currently the largest and most popular monster truck racing series in the world with most of its events in North America and a few in Europe.
In the UAE, Monster Jam last took place in 2013. Now, after a decade, the series made its comeback with Monster Jam Abu Dhabi 2023. The event was held at the Etihad Arena in association with the Department of Culture & Tourism.
The Etihad Arena was filled with tons of mud and a dirt track with jumps and mounds was created inside the arena. A traditional monster truck race was held, and in addition, the participants competed against each other in the freestyle stunting competition. The spectators in the stadium were given access to rate each driver’s performance by voting through an app.
The Monster Trucks
The first monster trucks were created by modifying existing pickup trucks by adding humongous wheels, larger engines, and a roll cage. Over time though, the trucks became truly monstrous and had to be custom-built.
The monster trucks used today are built on custom-made tube-frame chassis. The engines are truly massive with a capacity of up to 9.42-litres. The supercharged V8 units run on a truly potent methanol-based fuel and pump out around 1,500hp! The axles are taken from heavy-duty military trucks.
In terms of the size, these trucks are truly monstrous. They can measure up to 17 feet in length and the tyres are 66-inches (5.5 feet) in diameter. With seating for just one driver, these monster trucks performed phenomenal jumps, wheelies, and even two-wheeled runs!
The trucks don’t change very often, but the drivers do change over the years. Some of the well-known trucks are Grave Digger, Megalodon, Blue Thunder, El Toro Loco, Mohawk Warrior, etc.
You can’t really buy one of these monster trucks off the showroom floor. The closest you can come to owning one of these for the streets is by buying yourself a Ford F150 Raptor. Check out new Ford F-150 pickup trucks for sale in the UAE and used Ford F-150 pickup trucks for sale in the UAE.
Also Read:
– All You Need To Know About The Mercedes-Benz G-Class
– Top 10 SUVs To Buy In The UAE
– All You Need To Know About The Toyota Land Cruiser
