RTG Carrera Iberia The Daily Dispatch - all days - Flipbook - Page 18
7 to 17 October 2019
Day 9
Porto - Cascais (440km)
16 October 2019
Catch of the day
Porto is one of those cities which, during the morning rush hour, makes you glad that you’re leaving it rather than trying to get in. To distort a marine metaphor somewhat, we were very definitely swimming
against the tide. And we were very glad of this. The excellent A1 autoroute to Lisbon was but a short
hop from the hotel and once we were through the toll barrier and pointed towards the south, we were
free of the traffic and free to get on with the rally.
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Anthony and Sonja Verloop, 1973 MGB GT V8
This early morning 120km blast down the motorway
also got the crews swiftly into the first Time Control at
the Pousada Condeixa whereafter the 33km transfer to
the Regularity Serra da Lousa, led us through dozens of
little towns and villages, olive groves and tiny pockets of
vineyards now lying empty and slightly forlorn after the
vindima.
Typically, this Regularity wound its way up a thickly
wooded mountain road, devoid of almost any other traffic.
John Cotton started the clock at the bottom and, some
7.5km later Gill Cotton stopped it, before releasing the
crew to freewheel down the other side to a Passage Control
at Castanheira de Pera and onwards to a short sharp test
at Milagres Kart circuit.
It’s a fact that small, fast and light cars usually do well
on this sort of Test but this doesn’t mean that they’re
having all of the fun. Andrew Long for example looked
like he was having the time of his life as he explored the
deeper parts of the corners in his Bentley, which at times
seemed just about able to hold on to his chosen racing
line. Jeremy Clayton also had his hands full trying to reign
in his Mustang, which seemed determined to give him as
wild a ride as possible.
The Time Control at Leira, with another fabulous lunch,
gave the engines a chance to cool before the next long pull
to the second regularity at Gradil Mafra which passed within
spitting distance of the Cabo de Rocha, the most westerly
part of mainland Europe.
www.rallytheglobe.com
