15.08.2026 - Benchmark

This OSINT challenge was made by "briatlon" in the Hacktoria Discord.

Description: Determine where this image was taken. The flag is the text written on the sign over the bench.

Flag format: hacktoria{TEXT_ON_SIGN}

Answer and Write-Up

deconsultant [卄匚ㄒ],  — 8/17/26, 00:10

As a motorcyclist and racing enthusiast, I know Isle of Man pretty well. I recognized the flag within a second. What also stood out was the roundabout. I queryed this using Overpass Turbo, which gave me 65 results. And by using the satellite previews in Mappert, I quickly found the correct roundabout and the location of the bench. On Street View, the text is difficult to read, but at the entrance, there is also a sign visible on either side with similar text. However, I wasn't sure, so I searched to look up the location. That led me to this website:

https://manxscenes.com/2014/07/fir-tree-lodge-andreas/

There I found this photo, and with it, I confirmed the flag: FIR_TREE_LODGE

briatlon [FIND],  — 8/17/26, 00:20

Intended solve above with just a few small extra notes: The challenge is called "Benchmark

The leg being the main part of the flag, confirming that it was actually Isle of Man. There is an overview of flags here. Looking down the road we see cars driving left side of the road. This greatly limits the amount of places it can be. For finding the exact roundabout the following query can also be used on bellingcat-osm-search junction = roundabout - though I recommend Mappert for more advanced stuff. Finding the full res image as linked in WU above, you can reverse image search on Google and find it as the top result.