RTG Carrera Iberia The Daily Dispatch - all days - Flipbook - Page 20
7 to 17 October 2019
Day 10
Cascais - Quinta do Largo (372km)
17 October 2019
The final furlong
So, today ladies and gentlemen, the last day of the first ever Rally the Globe, Carrera Iberia got underway.
It was another pre-dawn start for the crews and unfortunately it was also a wet one.
and then to a Passage Control at Setubal. Here we boarded
a specially chartered ferry for the crossing of the Rio Sado,
to the Peninsula de Troia. Soon after the rally was given a
chance to dry out and refresh themselves at the lunch halt
and Time Control in a cafe on the beach at Praia de Morgavel.
Once the plates had been cleared, the finish line loomed
large and, according to the schedule, there was only one
more Regularity to negotiate over the Portela Das Corehas
and then a final Test at the Portimao circuit.
The finale, at the Conrad Quinta do Lago, was suitably
impressive and saw every car flagged through the arch,
with Loren Price on hand to pass the crews a ‘chilled adult
beverage’ and a commemorative bottle of port as the
flashbulbs popped and the applause rose.
The evenings’ prize-giving dinner was a glittering affair
and, over lamb, fish, and Portuguese wine, the crews were
Gavin and Diana Henderson, 1922 Bentley 3-4 1/2
Stephen and Samantha Hardwick, 1965 Ford Falcon
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
The first Test, which featured two laps of the famed Estoril
Circuit was the highlight of the day. This former Grand Prix
venue is huge, the run-off’s are superb, and the surface
is among the best we’ve seen. The potential to set some
blistering lap times was there, but unfortunately it was
very wet.
So, for pretty much every crew, safety first was the
watchword. No one wanted to risk not getting to the
finish at this stage - not least the two class leaders, Alan
Beardshaw and Jim Gately.
Despite the caution, there was still time to have some fun
and Len Treeter and Christoph Ley used the 10 second stop
box to leap from their Mercedes and swap seats, so that
both of them could claim to have driven this great track.
Once we left the high octane environment of the track
a busy motorway took us over the mouth of the Rio Tejo
www.rallytheglobe.com
