RTG1 - Flipbook - Page 8
29 Sept to 13 Oct 2024
Day 3
Rijeka to Šibenik (350 km)
2 October 2024
Text & photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
With another four Regularities and two tests,
today was almost a carbon copy of yesterday,
albeit without a border crossing. However, the
ever-evolving Balkan landscape kept us on our
toes as we made our way from one seaside town
to another. and, thanks to some local motorway
emergency, we were also deprived of one of the
afternoon’s Regularities.
Design: K-Design
Reto Mebes and Mark Bramall, 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280 SLC
Peter Spak and Lisa Schnell, 1956 Volkswagen Beetle 1100
We woke to a very wet morning, making the run along the
corniche slightly less enjoyable than it should have been.
On the plus side, the many tunnels gave the open-car crews
some welcome shelter from the downpour. after only
30km, standing water at the thrilling two-lap Test around
the Kartodrom Bura washed, rather than blew, away any
overnight cobwebs before we continued through a Route
check in crno and a tarmac Regularity from Podbilo
This 17km section calmed things down a little as it
wound through the scrubby and rocky hills of the velika
Kapela, with its vast wind farms and impressive views
across to the island of Krk. although the rain had stopped,
the hot-air hand-dryers at the mid-morning Time control
at the Konoba Tvrđava nehaj in Senj were pushed hard.
Thanks to their efforts, a less damp rally set out from this
well built medieval castle along the Dalmatian coast to a
Regularity at velebit.
Here 11km of slippery tarmac led us neatly to lunch and
the Time control in the Restoran Javor in Gospić. as usual
the crews devoured everything that was offered to them,
including chicken with rice, french fries, and battered
calamari.
following a relaxed, and very rare, 20km of motorway
driving, the afternoon session featured a visit to the
Paklenica national Park. Thanks to a short notice motorway
closure, there was just one Regularity around Evenrik,
which was made up of 14km of singletrack asphalt, olive
groves and drystone animal pens.
luckily, the predicted weather-borne apocalypse had
sidestepped us and, whether they chose to have their roof
up or down, everyone enjoyed the fast run to the afternoon
Time control at the Scardona Park Oldtimer Museum in
Skradin. another buffet of local delicacies had been laid
www.rallytheglobe.com
