RTG1 - Flipbook - Page 17
Day 8: Porto Montenegro to Kolašin, 7 October 2024
Text & photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Design: K-Design
Bill Shields and Wally Dehnhoff, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
full of vim and vigour after the rest day, the rally faced an
early start and an uphill battle straight from the MTc. With
the super yachts of Porto Montenegro receding with every
one of the 25 hairpins, the cars hauled themselves through
the olive groves and low clouds to the sunlit uplands of the
Kotor Serpentine, towards the Test at Bukovica.
Gill and John cotton manned the start and launched
the crews towards an exciting 2km section with plenty
of slippery pine needles, several loose corners, and some
well-placed code boards. along with the marshals from
the aMSK Kotor, the cooperation from the police and local
authorities was much appreciated.
after John llewellyn and Rob Dance had stopped the
clock the crews had little time to recover their composure
for the map-based Resna Regularity. This required their
total concentration as the road rose and fell relentlessly
through the scrubby karst. Respite was finally offered at
the Time control in the Hotel Trebjesa in nikšić, where a
few minutes of détente, along with coffee and snacks, were
available.
Suitably refreshed, the Panoramic Road 1 gave us
something nice to look at on the way to a Regularity from
lukovo. Rising to almost 1,500m, this section supplied a
selection of tarmac and gravel tracks, where an accurate
trip meter and some quick thinking were needed to deal
with the various navigational demands.
It had been a tough morning and the lunch halt at the
Time control in the Restoran Sočica in Plužine saw 22
exhilarated crews enjoying soup, roast lamb and risotto
and taking full advantage of the sun terrace overlooking
the Piva lake.
andy Inskip took his lunch away in a box, as David long
and Paul Bareham’s Talbot had developed a leak from the
steering box and some play in a front wheel bearing, both
needing attention before the car could continue.
The morning had been epic, but as the crews filed out
past andrew Kellitt and audrey Rudd’s control, word
quickly spread that this afternoon would be even better.
This became evident as soon as we joined the Panoramic
Road 1G to Durmitor national Park. The route to the
Plateau was beyond impressive; hacked into the cliff face,
with tunnels dealing with the trickiest corners, we climbed
steadily through an alpine landscape to find a Halfway
to athens sign thoughtfully planted before the Passage
control at Durmitor.
Once we’d summited the Sedlo Pass at 1907m, it was a
picture-perfect freewheel all of the way down to the Time
control in the Restoran Gnijezdo in Pošćenje. Here man
and machine were able to cool off before embarking on the
last Regularity from Slatina.
at almost 20km, this was a long section with several
timing points hidden away in the trees and some slippery
corners to boot, as John carr and colin Dougherty
discovered when their Bentley 6½ caught a patch of muddy
run-off, ending up in a ditch. andy Inskip and charlie neale
pulled them free and the crew made it to the night halt
without further drama.
Jim Gately and Tony Brooks also needed andy and
charlie’s pulling power when, a few kilometres down the
road, their cadillac slipped into the undergrowth. With Jim
Smith and Worth Birkill lending a hand, the crew made it to
the Hotel Bianca Resort & Spa just in time for dinner.
www.rallytheglobe.com
