Monster Jam, the biggest live motorsport competition in the world, came to Manila last weekend and here are some shots from Saturday’s show. Although my hearing has only just returned (holy cow are they loud!) it was still a total blast to see the machines I grew up watching on TV doing their thing in real life. Going by the reactions of the sell out crowd, Monster Jam Manila went down a blast with everyone!
‘Party in the Pits’ meet & greet before the event.
In total, six trucks made the journey to Manila: Grave Digger, Maximum D, El Toro Loco, Zombie, Sun Uva Digger and Dragon. MoA Arena was converted into a monster truck playground for the shows and fans also got the opportunity to meet and greet the drivers and their machines during the Party in the Pits before the shows.
The one that gets the loudest cheers: Grave Digger
The six trucks faced off in different competitions, including a wheelie contest, a race against each other, and of course the freestyle segment, where the drivers can go wild to impress the crowd and the judges. Despite the small arena, the performances were nothing short of impressive.
Dragon goes airborne at the Mall of Asia Arena
Safety is always paramount at Monster Jam and all trucks have a Remote Ignition Interrupter (RII) installed so that track officials can shut off a truck at any time. We also observed officials with air pollution measuring devices in the arena to ensure air quality stays at safe levels.
Grave Digger and Dragon race each other
It costs around P30M per year to build, staff, compete, transport and maintain one of these 10,000 pound monsters on the Monster Jam tour and more than 4 million Monster Jam fans attend events each year worldwide.
Sun Uva Digger jumps towards the finishing line
Monster Trucks are more than 5 meters long, about 3.5 meters wide and 3 meters high. They weigh between 4,500 kg and 5,400 kg. Monster trucks are built for short, extremely powerful sprints. They can generate up to 1,500 horsepower and reach speeds of around 125 km/h.
Freestyle Motocross riders were part of the program
The engines are built specifically for the monster trucks. They are extremely powerful injection engines that run on methanol. Per run (a mere 25 meters) a monster truck engine may consume up to 9.5 liters of methanol! Under the terms of the USHRA, the engine has a capacity of about 8850 cc. An average monster truck uses around five engines per year.
Spectacular stunts by the freestyle motocross team
Tires from Fortis MTL Tracks are what really turns these machines into Monster Truck and the rubber used at Monster Jam is 1.68 meters high and 1.09 meters wide. A monster truck consumes around eight tires per year. These are made by hand and cut to size to adapt them to the track. Every tire can take roughly 50 hours of use and car crushing abuse before needing to be changed.
Motocross riders during Monster Jam in Manila
Dragon making easy work of some old cars
Dragon, one of the six trucks taking part in Monster Jam Manila
Big air during the freestyle segment of the show
MoA Arena was filled with soil to enable the trucks to perform
Son Uva Digger goes airborne during the freestyle routine
Maximum D catches some big air during Monster Jam Manila
Grave Digger doing donuts
El Toro Loco going wild
Grave Digger during the freestyle part of the event
How MoA Arena looked during Monster Jam in Manila
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The Monster Jam shows in Manila were hugely popular and we really hope the giant machines will return next year for more ear splitting mayhem! In the meanwhile, you can stay up to date with all things Monster Jam by visiting the official website:
