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Above: World Cup Hatchback leader Alastair Caldwell in the Peugeot 205 storms through a Moroccan test today. Day 7 - Erfoud to Zagora After a luxurious and welcome night halt in between fingers of Sahara sand dunes, the morning test proved to be primarily, a test of navigation. This open 'desert raid' with endless choices of route was an exciting challenge for the driver who, at times, could be simply aiming for a fortress in the distance. For the navigator it was a test of nerves - those with the 'bottle' simply encouraged their driver to 'straight line' the route between the GPS (satellite navigation) 'way points' (GPS spot locations). Straight lining, as opposed to following well-proven tracks, could easily result in coming face to face with impassable gullies or dunes. But following the sometimes-twisty tracks meant having to drive further. And for those who had failed to associate themselves with their GPS systems on the way down, it was a fraught time. Relying on the occasional 'Tulip' drawing, in the route book, of the forthcoming direction change was far from enough information to actually reach the finish control before sunset!. The rally was pleased to see Paul Carter and Sarabel Barquillo's Land Rover back in the car park this morning - having been 'missing' late yesterday. After breaking down, off route, they were finally spotted in the distance by the intrepid 'sweep' duo - Tony Fowkes and Andy Inskip who signalled their attention with the good old fashioned 'mirror in the sunshine' technique! In what must have been a supreme combination of navigation, driving, (and possibly luck?) Felix Wright and John Hall bought the Focus home in an incredibly fast time by travelling 'as the crow flies'. Faster still however, Iain Freestone and Rod Maclean in the Mk1 Escort further improved their advantage at the top of the leader board with a cracking run using the same technique. At the opposite end of the 'fortune scale' both Paul and Mary Kane in the Mustang, and Jim Smith and Peter Stone in the Astra, drove over impassable sand dunes and became firmly grasped in the unforgiving hand of the Sahara desert. After waiting to be towed out by service crews, they received maximum time penalties placing both front runners well down the leader boards. Jason Heron and Iain Colwell in a Toyota HiLux, also fell foul of the desert by rolling their pick up truck. The ever resourceful Alastair Caldwell, last seen yesterday without a clutch, had a fast run after spending last night in an Erfoud garage removing the gearbox and fitting a complete new unit. His Peugeout 205 was not without further incident however, after losing the spare wheel on the test, and having the battery fall apart under the bonnet. The second test continued to challenge everybody with a very gnarly mountain track that pounded many cars to within an inch of their life. Punctures became a common problem and the truck with perhaps the largest and heaviest wheels to change, the Dodge Ram, got two. Paul and Sandra Merryweather, in the MGZR with suspension problems, gave this one a miss after the faults worsened. Husband and wife crew, David and Jaqueline Palmer, finished the day as leading 4x4 and just 3 positions down the leader board. A remarkable achievement for such relative rookeys. The finish control, manned by Kim Bannister and Dave Perks, became a homing beacon for not only the rally cars but every child within a hundred mile radius. Their excitement and enthusiasm caused the usual mayhem - but also managed to strip the organisational Mitsubishi Shogun of every rally sticker it had - including the GB badge! Back at our Zagora night halt we are pleased to see the re-arrival of the Coate's Lotus Elan. Until new parts can arrive they had a dusty little garage back in Midelt, completely re-manufacture a rear stub axle to get them back on their way. |
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