RTG Carrera Iberia The Daily Dispatch - all days - Flipbook - Page 5
7 to 17 October 2019
Day 2
Rioja - Alcaniz (401km)
9 October 2019
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Viva España
The superb day we enjoyed yesterday had
perhaps lulled some of us into a false sense of
security. Maybe there were those who thought
that this Carrera was going to be something
of an early autumn wind down. Sure there was
something of a holiday feeling to the beginning of
the rally; a seaside start, sunshine and blue skies,
wide roads, a long lunch and very relaxed timing.
But today, it all got a bit more real, and the rally
moved up a gear.
Over the 401km of the day, we enjoyed a long section of
remote singletrack, passages through mountaintop villages,
some steep broken tarmac (suffused with the heady scent
of hot brakes, hardworking clutches and nicely warmed
tires) and finally a night halt at a magnificent and ancient
hilltop Parador.
It proved to be an epic day, and there was absolutely noone in the carpark at the end of the day who would disagree.
The Bentleys are coming, led by Keith & Norah Ashworth’s 1927 Le Mans
Paul and Matthew Hartfield, 1936 Packard Super 8 Sedan
The fun began shortly before dawn though, albeit with
a slightly grey and damp start, when the cars made their
way to the MTC in the Cafe Fernando, in downtown Rioja.
Whereafter they once again slalomed their way through
miles of vineyards and acres of olive groves. Sadly Wilfried
and Sandra Schaefer’s were to see none of this as they have
retired from the rally. A family issue has taken them and their
venerable old Porsche back home. We wish them well and
look forward to welcoming them again very soon however.
There was then a gentle climb all the way to the Passage
Control atop the impressive Canyon de Leza, where the ace
medic / marshal combo’ of Alan Smith and Mansoor Khan
were hunkered down enjoying the bracing atmosphere
as well as keeping a tight grip on their check sheets and
packed lunches as dozens of hungry Griffin vultures
wheeled overhead with a beady eye trained on the latter.
The first Regularity at Sancho Leza followed hard on
the heels of this avian encounter and, with it the road
rose further into the clouds at 1390m. It certainly felt like
an Alpine climb, and the cowbells tinkling in the thick
woodlands meant that the Swiss crews felt right at home.
Another Time Control had been scheduled for a quick
coffee and a ‘natural break before the second Regularity at
the Puerto de Piqueras which rose to a very misty and damp
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