It’s now all over!

The last morning of the event went well.
No loggers just proper old style timing points with real marshals.

Surprisingly there were no tricks to put a sting in the tail of the event. Just some straightforward rallying. 3 regs and a test on a kart circuit.

On the harbour at the finish in Trieste.

The weather is perishing here. I don’t think I have ever felt the wind so strong.
A temperature of -8 with a 100kph wind reminds me I never want to be a polar explorer. The sea in the Adriatic is being blown horizontally against the harbour wall and freezing! It was too dark to take a photo so I will try in the morning.

A few cars had dramas on the final section, punctures, fails batteries etc, it goes to show the pounding these cars take during the week. I think the results may alter a bit because of this.

The final time control in Slovenia.

A black tie dinner sees the event to its finish tonight and I don’t think it’s going to be schnitzel. Despite high expectations only one was seen all week. Still the Spaghetti and clams with a bottle of red for lunch was a perfect was to chill out this afternoon.

A day and a night of it…

An amazing day, it just gets progressively harder. Starting on ice at -10C the temperature outside the car never got warmer. The second regularity of the day was considered impassable so a quick reschedule and reroute solved that issue. Some very tricky navigation followed lunch through a maze of roads, luckily we made that section on time visiting all the logger points.
Tests and more regularities were the order of the afternoon which went mostly well with only minor slip ups. A logging truck costing us over a minute on one section.

The night section was amazing. The first half were very testing back to back regularity tests. I got so lost on the first we had to keep moving until a landmark was found. Unfortunately this was a town 15km from where we should have been! A cut and recalculation saw us on our way to the navigational half of the night.
Less of a rally and more of a full on gravel stage! We lost time hand over fist and had to cut out the last 4 controls having a beer in a bar.
I can’t imagine how impossible it would have been in snow. Perhaps a step too far for old cars, more a section better suited to the WRC mob.

Tomorrow sees the finish in Italy, it looks simple enough but Bart always has a trick on the last day!

Slovenian Snow.

Leg 5

What a busy day! It seemed to go on forever with no break. Regularity followed regularity with a couple of tests thrown in for good measure.

The test track at the Red Bull ring is amazing and the hospitality building world class, it surely won’t be long until Bernie has a home race for Red Bull Racing?

The afternoon saw the first major slip in navigation. I wrong plotted a map point so all direction and time went out of the window, bugger. A long twisty drive brought us to Ljubliana where we spend the next two nights.

A long day section and the all important night loop are on the agenda tomorrow, I don’t expect to be In the hotel until after midnight.

Roll of honour for regular competitors. I’ve only had 6 starts.

Tuesday. Legs 3 and 4

A very busy day today. First a shockingly early regularity at 07.50. That’s 06.50 in the UK! Dark and icy. Seemed to go well enough as did the many other day time tests. No dramas just routine timekeeping and accurate navigation.

Joes MG limps on, it goes well enough but drops oil like the Torrey Canyon!
They missed the night loop to preserve what little oil pressure they have and intend to carry on tomorrow.

Old friend and fellow motor nut Jaap had a drive shaft fail so went marshalling with his co driver wife. I took this picture in case he made a mess of using the clock. He didn’t thought!

Frantic pre-night plotting on the ‘Brits’ table.

The night section was a great route comprising of many difficult regularities on some very icy minor roads in Austria. We elected to fit chains near the start and they worked well giving us great hill climbing confidence. We had what seems to be a good night with not too much time lost. The most amazing two ice covered hillclimbs were more flat out driving than regularity. I am certain nobody was early. Minus 14C was spotted on our external temperature gauge and it seemed that cold.
Food news..No Schnitzel today but an excellent Strudel at the top of one of the hillclimbs.
Tomorrow gives us a more relaxed 09.15 start and my bed beckons so more news tomorrow.

The second day

Some snow to play in now. It is apparent that above around 800m there is snow on the ground. The main roads are clear but as expected the minor ones we use are icy.

No dramas before lunch, just a couple of reasonable timed regularities.

After a break for schnitzel (the first one!) a minor drama ensued. I missed a tricky junction in the snow and we had to turn the car around, alas, a wheel left the icy road and sunk into the field alongside. It took the Volvo of team-mates Frank Fennel and Kevin Savage with a tow rope to extract us. The jury is still out as to who’s fault it was! Answers on a postcard please.

Team Volvo at the Airfield.

An interesting test on a barren airfield went well and the final regularity as darkness fell was very complicated. All was accurate, well compared to the other cars we saw going in all directions around the maze of tiny tracks over fields. Until the last 1/2 km when a very steep and hair-pinned downhill run cost us probably 30 seconds at the last control.

After the days exertions dinner and an early night are expected. Probably…

Gijs Van Lennup looking unnervingly confident! And so he should as a previous multi winner of the Winter Trial…and LeMans too.

A late night for some.

Poor Joe Reynolds had his engine blow at lunchtime today and thought he may have to retire the MG Magnette.
A new race engine was found in Germany and as I speak is being installed in the Hotel car park with the aid of a street sign pole as a lifting device. Wine has been supplied as sustenance and we expect to hear it run shortly. It may be quick on the rally as the engine has been removed from a race car!

Men at work.

Joe at work.

The first day

Sunday was anything but sunny. Grey and cold but other than a couple of snow flurries, dry roads so far…

The day started with a test in a car park, it went efficiently with no drama. Regularities followed and as far as I can tell we did pretty well, results pending!

A new regularity start procedure has been introduced this year by using the in-car GPS locating devices (loggers).
You need to set the stopwatch and zero the Halda as you are driving past the marked start point. It helps if you note down your starting time to check your result. Note to self;
Must remember to do that tomorrow.

Lunch halt. No sign of any Schnitzel yet.
Herman and I have a bet on to how many opportunities we will have to eat Schnitzel thus week. I have gone for seven and Herman five. Nill-nill so far.

To prove we were at a ‘logger’ passage control I took a picture of the marker board. Not very interesting but such is life.