RTG1 - Flipbook - Page 28
29 Sept to 13 Oct 2024
Day 14
Delphi to Vouliagmeni (280 km)
13 October 2024
Text & photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
This time last week we were enjoying the rest day
delights of Porto Montenegro, but this morning we
were up early and ready for the final day of the
Austria to Athens Challenge. It might not have
been a Marathon, but this Challenge has required
endurance levels that Pheidippides himself would
have been proud of.
Design: K-Design
Peter Spak and Lisa Schnell, 1956 Volkswagen Beetle 1100
Anthony and Sonja Verloop, 1968 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE
Danny Day and Ron Doyle, 1975 Mercedes-Benz 280
a heady mix of 14 tough days over 4,112km with 16 Tests,
44 Regularities and 80 Timing Points has pushed cars and
crews hard from sea level to 2,000m, on tarmac, gravel, and
everything in between. We had snow on the first Regularity
in austria, flooding in Bosnia, a sweltering 28°c finish in
athens and a small earthquake in Delphi. To round off the
toughest Rally the Globe event so far, today’s ambitious
schedule included three Tests and two Regularities.
With the church bells of Itea ringing in our ears, the
Test up the Desfina Old Road, shot the cars into the everdeepening blue sky along a 2.47km single-track road with a
stop box and two Route checks. Once we summited a wellmaintained highway made light of the journey to the first
Regularity, anávasi alouminíou. as its name suggests, it was
run along the little-used road above a massive metal factory.
a sort of helter-skelter from the smelter, if you prefer!
coffee at the Time control in the arvanitsa Restaurant
preceded a beautiful 70km of backroads with Route checks
in Xironomi and Plataea. We had a cycle race to negotiate
before the last Regularity of the event. and, after what seems
like two weeks of non-stop hairpins, gravel, and singletrack
roads, this section from Dafnoula brought us out of the
wilderness and onto the main road towards athens.
Two frantic Tests in the Iaveris Park rallycross circuit lay
in wait before a final rally lunch at the Time control in
the Kapandriti Domaine costa lazaridi Winery. Only now
were the two eventual winners of the classic and vintage
categories looking more relaxed.
www.rallytheglobe.com
