RTG1 - Flipbook - Page 13
Day 5: Mostar to Sarajevo, 4 October 2024
Text & photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Design: K-Design
Ivan and Tisa Pusnik, 1939 Ford Coupe Deluxe
Ean and Ali Lewin, 1973 Ford Escort RS1600
Hans-Martin Schneeberger and Louis Vetter, 1974 Mercedes-Benz 350 SL
arriving at the Time control in the Oldtimer club Muzej
in Rodoč it was confirmed that the day would be curtailed.
news of extensive flooding had led to road closures
and caused the authorities to take drastic action. Our
original route over the Bjelašnica Plateau, a vast flat area
of the Dinaric alps, known locally as the ‘Iron lady’, was
impassable.
While we waited for Messrs appleton and Preston to
put together a new route, andy Inskip and charlie neale
began cannibalising one of the exhibits from the museum
for christoph and Zaneta Wolters’ aston Martin DB 2/4,
which needed a regulator. Their mission was a success and,
although the car was running correctly, the crew elected to
drive straight to Montenegro to effect a more permanent
repair before re-joining the rally after the rest day.
after a few minutes of clever map work the amendments
were duly issued, with a re-route through the Sutjeska
national Park, which includes Maglić, the country’s highest
peak at 2,386 metres. The new route was safe and largely
trouble-free, despite a river bursting its banks and flowing
across several sections of the road. We travelled through
an area of outstanding natural beauty with soaring peaks
and deep gorges, whilst the raging Bistrica River reminded
us of the tragedies only a few miles away.
On reaching the night halt in Sarajevo - ironically under
full sun with a blue sky - the crews were excused from
the usual group dining to decide on their own menu and
explore the charms of Saraybosna, the Ottoman “Palace of
Bosnia”.
Before he sat down to anything though, David Roberts
had to spend a few hours in the car park with charlie,
andy and Russ Smith, fitting a recently arrived hub to the
Triumph TR250, which has been limping along since the
fault was spotted just before scrutineering.
www.rallytheglobe.com
