RtG The Daily Dispatch - Carrera Riviera - WEB - Flipbook - Page 15
4 to 15 June 2023
Day 7
Carcassonne to Valence (413.2km)
11 June 2023
Only one Section was scheduled today to put the focus on the undoubted main event, the Alès Circuit,
where we enjoyed a blast around the main track, lunch in the paddock and two further frantic Tests
on the adjacent rally track. We also enjoyed more of France’s seemingly endless rural roads and even
managed a little sightseeing on the way home.
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
It was another 8am start today and, through sleepy Sunday
morning Carcassonne, we had a cool and untroubled exit
from the city. The road book led us across and along the
Aude and Canal du Midi, towards the foothills of the Monts
de L’Espinou and the maquis of Languedoc-Roussillon.
Dozens of agreeable villages rolled past us punctuated
by countless vineyards, olive groves and soon enough, the
Neffiès Section. This chopped its way through a rugged and
broken landscape on a single-track road which was, thanks
to some careful recce work, just passable by a La France.
In Gignac we crossed the Hérault and caught a glimpse of
its gorges before making for Aniane and a Time Control in
the Salon de Thé - Cécile Ferrandi for some very welcome
coffee and pastries. The days first Passage Control soon
followed on the Col de Fambétou, our first ‘mountain’ of
the event, in the low lying, yet impressive, peaks of the
Montagnes d’ Hortus. From Pic Saint-Loup we skirted the
Cévennes before crossing the Gardon d’Anduze and pulling
into the car park of the Alés Circuit.
The first Test at this Pôle Mecanique had something of a
track day atmosphere where helmets were mandatory and
the French marshals reigned supreme. It was an incredible
session on an exceptional track - the two laps which each
car was allowed will be remembered for a long time. Lunch
and another Time Control in the paddock gave the crews a
chance to compare notes and lap times, refuel themselves
and sort out any hair restyled by the helmets. At 31°C, with
full sun, things were getting sweaty and attempts at fixing
elegant coiffures were wasted as two more Tests followed.
The Alés Rally and the Alés Rally Consistency, saw the
crews having to match their first run time as closely as
possible on their second run. Round one of the Rally the
Globe ‘run what you brung’ championships, offered each
crew the chance to lap an old tarmac circuit featuring
steep climbs, vicious descents and plenty of chicanes to
confound the pure drag racers.
Our midday session in Alès had been great fun but, after
the pressure of the track, the rally took something of a
www.rallytheglobe.com