Rally Reflections

A few days have passed now since the end of the Rally in the great City of Cape Town, and what a rally it was. The 4 hectic weeks seemed to go by in a blur so I was pleased with myself that I took the time to keep up with my blog - at least as much as I could due to work on the car and technical difficulties with the Blackberry.

I suspect others are the same but I'm taking some time to recover, lots of dozing and I'm still dreaming of the rally - mostly of breaking down near the end. After 2 days of sightseeing in Cape Town and sending the car safely home in its container back to the UK, it was back to reality. The rally seemed to create a cocooned little world for all those taking part; people could leave their normal lives behind them for a time. When families arrived in Cape Town, people changed; back to their home norm I suppose. As I found when I returned, it is difficult to explain to family and friends, what it was like and the experiences we had all shared. On the day after I returned to the UK, I had to travel up to London in the commuter slog to the City in freezing conditions. Africa seemed like a world away yet only a few days before, we had been bashing through Namibia and South Africa in 40 degrees heat.

Time to add a few postscript reflections to my blog on the 4 weeks to end Jan 2012.

Firstly, on our choice of car and how it stood up. Our (non-turbo) Subaru Impreza 2.0R was, I think a good choice. It is well-built from the factory with all lines inside the shell which is always an advantage. It has a rally heritage and strengthening parts such as mounts are readily available. I had no idea how much punishment it would have to take and neither had Gawaine and Jason at Langworth Motorsport in Lincoln who did most of the prep work. In retrospect, we should have put extra beefing up on the rear turrets (though the damage was caused by putting on longer but too soft springs in Nairobi). The guys did a good job though on a tight budget and when we lost some of our guards (like the wheel arch liners on a heavy dip in the final days), we saw that extra extra guarding had been placed over vulnerable areas like the underside of the fuse box.

The simple monoshock Bilstein dampers lasted well to the end and we were one of only a few cars that finished on mostly original dampers. We only changed one rear insert in Nairobi due it going slightly soft but it was still fine as a spare.  The fronts remained on the car for the whole rally, though the left one more of less gave up the ghost on the final day, causing us to slide off on the penultimate section (that's my excuse anyway).  As we found out from African Rally Championship contender Ashish Patel in Zambia, the exact same dampers were recommended to him by Prodrive for his Subaru as simple and effective for African conditions.

I would probably add a limited slip diff to the rear to give some more traction on rough tracks and would look to improve the brakes which were standard - 2 pot fronts and single pot rear. With the weight we were carrying, it was a lot to ask of them and pad wear was heavy - even with competition pads. They never completely gave up the ghost though and the Mintex pads did their job. I would also take out the air con radiator to give maximum airflow over the main radiator. I'm sure this was causing our cooling problems in the heat and altitude as the air con radiator became blocked with mud and insects. When we took it out in the last week (with the help of Simon from car 28), we were able to push hard in the hills without problems (just as it hit 42 degrees).

When we finished the final section on the last day, the car really wasn't capable of driving another  competitive mile - impeccable timing but a close run thing. Our front brake pads were down to the metal (we had used all our spares), a rear wheel bearing was about to give up the ghost and one front damper had gone with the other was well on its way out. Our tyres were also just about shot (but 4000 miles is not bad for a set of gravel tyres) and the whole car creaked, groaned and rattled due to play in suspension bushes and top mounts. To cap it all, our fuel gauge started to play up. We had put 30 litres in to raise it to 3/4 for the final morning sections and run to fuel. We later discovered it had just over a quarter of a tank in it as it ran out 50km after the last competitive section.  Perhaps that made the difference as we were running a lot lighter than we thought. The Land Rover of Nick and David (many thanks to them) towed us the few miles to the nearest fuel (interesting doing a twisty downhill road section without any power steering or working brakes) and we were up and running again - limping to Cape Town.

A word on tyres. I made a lot of the Continental Vanco 6 tyres we used in Europe and to Nairobi in my earlier blogs. They were well suited to most conditions as a compromise and seemed impervious to any puncture in the tread pattern, even when negotiating the unreal rocky Marsabit road. We put commercial sealant in them, but there was no evidence that any puncture had been sealed. The only puncture we had was in the sidewall and that was their vulnerability when pushing hard and with the car sliding more. I think we made the right decision in changing to Africa spec Dunlop gravel tyres in Nairobi and we wouldn't have won had we not done that. The sidewalls of the Dunlops were extra-reinforced to the extent that tyre fitting machines struggled to get them on/off. It allowed us to push hard at the end without fear of punctures. Oddly though, they seemed more vulnerable to tread pattern damage and we had a couple of slow punctures that were fortunately easily repaired overnight.

Looking at the event itself and the organisation, I was told before the event that Philip Young's rallies were a bit different to those we had done in the past like London-Sydney. Philip's vision is to run events more like they used to run in the 60's and 70's - with World Cup competitive sections on open roads (though usually isolated and little used).  The timing of the competitive sections is designed to maintain competition but not compromise safety and this is always a difficult balance for the organisers.  Set slack target times and the competition will be restricted as crews will clean the sections. Set them too tight and it can develop into a road race. Overall, I think they found the right balance and most crews kept a bit in reserve. The pace in the final few days did pick up as we fought for the lead with Andy (and I heard that the South African officials were slightly concerned at the pace) but there were no local accidents and I didn't feel unsafe at the pace we drove (and Joost had cleared most of the locals away by the time we arrived). Some application of penalties was a little difficult to understand at times relative to the published rules but the idea was to keep everyone involved and competing and not discourage them by 2 hour penalties for getting stuck in Greece or Egypt.  Still the penalties on occasion left little advantage to those who had pushed their cars hard through rough sections and sustained damage rather than not bothering and taking the penalties so I think they were too generous at times.

Philip himself is an enigmatic and slightly eccentric character who was determined to see this rally through after the cancellation the year before. It was a mammoth exercise in financial planning, perseverance and organisation to see it through and he deserves great credit. As he said himself though at the prize giving (and all the more reason to do the rally), this could be the last such long distance international event through Africa. The financial commitment and planning is very risky with so much regional political instability. The passage through Egypt for instance would be unlikely to happen now - just a few weeks later due to further troubles.

What were the most interesting countries to pass through? All had something different to offer but Ethiopia and Namibia stood out for me. The support from the Ethiopian public on the rally route was unbelievable - thousands lined the roads several deep in all towns and villages over 3 days from one end of the country to the other to cheer us through. Policemen and women manned each junctions and snapped to salute when each car passed. I'd never seen anything like it and neither had any of the other crews. The country itself was also beautiful and in most places green and lush. They were obviously grateful for the rains this year.

Namibia was a contrast, massive by European standards yet with a population of only 2m. It is more arid  yet beautiful in its own way but is criss-crossed with wide gravel roads (think 4-lane highway wide) which made for some great driving. We did a 600km day (one of the most challenging of the rally) - all on gravel roads and maintaining a relentless pace to stay on time.

South Africa also deserves a mention. Cape Town had all the amenities we needed to end such an exhausting marathon event and the twisty competitive sections for the last 2 days were fantastic - better still that they were suited to our car.

Of course we saw some heartbreaking poverty on our travels. Gerard the event photographer took some great photos of people en route. Some obviously had little or nothing and it is easy to see how a shortage of water for a time can have such a calamitous effect on daily lives so quickly. Most had little or nothing in reserve as far as I could see in some of the outlying rural areas we passed through. We did see lots of schools and happy school children but we also saw lots of school-age children begging and selling fruit for pennies by the side of the road. The sight of a young boy of 5 or 6 leading his very elderly blind and disabled grandfather or great grandfather round those passing through the Kenya/Tanzania border begging for a few pennies was deeply saddening. Emaciated, dressed in rags and looking ill they made a truly pathetic sight. What life chances does that small boy have, attached to his elderly relative and begging in the street? Of course, I gave them something as did others and a cynic might say they were just very good beggars but I don't think so. We were just passing through on the trip of a lifetime. Those we passed are there every day eking out a living as best they can.  In some areas we passed through, life expectancy is under 40. It made raising funds for African Revival which is addressing just these issues by bringing schools to poor rural areas to encourage self-help, all the more poignant. Without knowing that we were making just a little contribution (and hopefully difference) to such problems, it would have been much harder to witness.

Now, the crews on the event. What a mixed bunch. From wealthy businessmen to keen and talented enthusiasts on the tightest of budgets with us somewhere in the middle. All sharing a few things in common; a sense of adventure, a love of driving cars fast and a keen competitive spirit which had all crews fighting hard for positions wherever they were in the placings. This is what drew the crews together and all helped others out if they could. A genuine cameradie developed across all teams who shared the experience of the driving, the conditions, the hotels (some great and some not so) and mucking in to help each other out if they could.

The crews of the classic cars had the hardest job as their cars required the most regular work. Some looked exhausted well before Cape Town. We only had one late night and that was enough for us. Some had late nights repairing and rebuilding for several nights running. When the Escort of Ben and Mike broke a stub axle, it took them 2 days to fabricate a new one locally to get them back on the road. They then had to drive 2 days to catch up the rally down the notorious Marsabit road, some of it at night on dangerous roads.

There were 3 classic Datsuns on the event - 2, 240Zs and an Aussie P510. Grant Tromans in one of the 240Z's was relatively new to classic rallying being an accomplished circuit racer. He was accompanied by Simon, his mechanic and navigator who kept the car together with his mobile workshop and spares. In fact Simon kept several cars going at different times and helped us along the way too for which we were very grateful. Grant also gave us some of his valuable advice on matters such as our cooling problems and was always right so I owe him a beer too. I think they both learnt a lot about an event like this and were a pleasure to do the event with.

The other 240Z was crewed by Alex and David who just kept going after their car was seriously damaged in an accident in Greece. They flew it to Jeddah to catch up and had problem after problem. We saw them on several occasions having work done on the car in several countries. On one notable occasion, we shared the services of a roadside welding shop on the Kenyan border with Tanzania when we were getting our strut turrets welded up and they seemed to be getting most of their car welded. They were always good company and have raised an immense amount for charity. The target for the car doing events is £1m and they will keep doing events until they achieve it - though I suspect they might need a new body shell to do that after this event. An absolutely brilliant effort for them to reach Cape Town and they just would not be discouraged.

The Aussie P510 of Mark Pickering and Dave Boddy was a quick car well driven. But they had accepted penalties at the start for non-period suspension and had to run down the field (seeding being done on placings rather than speed). They were therefore disadvantaged by being behind slower cars.  Had they been higher up the seeding as they should have been, they would have been contenders as their car ran faultlessly. They backed off at the end to make Cape Town such were their penalties.

The classic Peugeot guys were the heroes of car repair on the event. Most of them had some of our 2-pack epoxy filler at various times holding together some part of their cars. Yet they all reached Cape Town and looked great all lined up as a team. Some of their crews looked fit to drop. Similarly Owain and Peter in their Mercedes suffered a series of problems in what could have been a winning car had they had more time for testing to iron our potential problems.

The lesson for me from this (similarly in the last London-Sydney event incidentally) is that modern cars are built much better now than cars were built 30 years ago, they are stronger and more reliable.  We did nothing to ours except bolt on Bilstein dampers, Eibac springs and underguarding. Engine, ecu and drive train were totally standard as were the basic suspension layout and brakes. Admittedly, if we had had an electrical problem with all the Canbus electronic complexity of a modern car, we would have been in serious trouble but we had no such problem. It ran as sweet as a nut throughout. Perhaps it's time for rally organisers to run an event for ordinary modern cars in the same spirit of the 1970's - such as N3 2 litre fwd production class. After all, the World Cup rallies of the 1970's didn't attract cars from the 1940s, they were a rugged test for modern cars of that era. Perhaps the problem is that it might not be much of an endurance test. Most modern cars would last the course and the pace may be too fast. But it might well get manufacturers interested again in long distance rallying rather than WRC high speed sprints in multi-million pound hand-built cars that rightly appear as different from production cars to the public as a Bugatti Veyron to a Ford Fiesta.

The modern 4x4 crews had an easier time. Whilst obviously not rally cars in the usual sense, their cars were built for rough terrain and being diesel turbos, chipped for extra grunt and with rally-raid suspension, were a good 'low maintenance' choice for an event like this which was very rough in parts. Whilst heavy, for hillclimbs and at altitude, they had an advantage relative to the asthmatic low-slung non-turbo petrol cars. Andy Actman in particular drove his hard and well consistently throughout the event and could easily have won had the final sections been better suited to his car. The steady and experienced hand of Andy Elcomb as his navigator was also a great benefit.

Rod (Tell Laura I Love her) Taylor and Ian Morgan also had a good run in their Toyota until they rolled it towards the end. They were back up and running in a few hours and said their car ran better afterwards. Stuart and Colin in the no 19 Nissan (and our team mates along with Andy), were also steady performers. Admittedly, they could have gone faster had Stuart not spent so much time driving with one hand whilst filming with the other but they got to Cape Town in good order all the same.

Owen Turner in his MG was the best driver (possibly the most naturally gifted driver on the event) and chief mechanic for the MG team which kept him busy for most of the time. The smaller fwd MGs were not best suited to some parts of the event (soft sand in Egypt or the moonscape of northern Kenya) but they just kept going changing parts as they went. Jane and Jill in the Maestro (both highly experienced) also had some trials to put up with but were very quick when the car and conditions allowed. If any car had vulnerabilities, this event found them out and it only took a couple of problems to push a car several places down the order and make it difficult to recover. By the end of the event only Andy in his Toyota and our car had not had any major problems or penalties and that made all the difference.

A special mention for Tim and Dominic in their 1400 MG - not the most obvious choice of car for the conditions we experienced and they had their share of suspension and other problems. But, they just kept on going to reach Cape Town.

I have referred in my earlier blogs to the beautiful Tuthill 911 of Joost and Jacques - 'the professionals'. They even had Frances Tuthill himself along to look after the car; himself a real gentleman of rallying and experienced competitor in his own right.  They were clearly the fastest crew in the event in the 911 but lost a lot of time in the lanes of Kent on the first night and were further penalised for non-period suspension which made it impossible for them to catch up unless the leaders had problems. Still, to hear Joost flying off the line like a rocket every day and attacking the competitive sections was a real pleasure. They were great sportsmen too, helping us without question with a puncture to ensure we didn't lose any time. Their team also carried their 'rations' and many a night we would be welcomed into the car park with a gin and tonic and nibbles after a hard day. After they saw how much gear we were carrying, they even offered to carry our sand spade which they did for the last 10 days. I'm sure they found the event frustrating and not quite what they expected but the event was much better with them in it. I can also thank them heartily for the champagne we sprayed at the end.

Then I have to mention Penny, the 1923 Vauxhall 23/60 vintage car, piloted by father and son Max and James.  Although obviously not designed for speed Penny was built for the unmade roads of the 1920s and was unfazed by most of the road conditions thrown at it. We drove alongside them on the road to Marsabit and Max and James were quite happy at the same speed as us taking full advantage of their longer suspension travel in their open-air cockpit. They had planned to drive Penny back up the route to visit some of the places we had zoomed past but a broken diff in the Cape Town Hotel car park (of all places after nearly 10k miles) put paid to that for now. The car attracted attention wherever it went and even by the police in South Africa after a late night jaunt with a few on board threatened to put James in a cell for the night.

I think I said early on that this was an event for navigators and Bob was one of the best on the event if not the best. Even though I had no road rally experience for Kent, Bob more than made up for it. As shown with other crews, losing a lot of time in Kent effectively put them out of the running. We lost 3 minutes only when stuck behind slower traffic but it still put us up with the front runners which meant we were not affected by later incidents of getting stuck in mud or sand behind others. Bob is a key reason we did so well on the event. We were mostly in the right place at the right time when it counted.

So the end of an amazing event of excitement and adventure which we were privileged enough to win by a whisker. What a great experience and a great bunch of people to meet. It will take quite some time to re-acclimatise to ordinary life again and then sort out what I can do with a very bruised standard 2 litre Subaru Impreza. Maybe I'll put it back onto ebay as 2 careful owners and less than 30k miles....

S

A few Photo's..

Arriving winners in Cape Town

Brake pads after final competitive section. 

Day 29 - To the Wire

Day 29 - To the Wire

I'm tapping away having arrived in Cape Town - just. Better still, we arrived in the lead and have won by 36 seconds after 29 days of competitive rallying. Pretty tight. 

The first section this morning was always going to be the decider after we took a 3 second lead overnight. This was because it was to the second so if Andy could grab back the lead and could then clean the next 2 sections (which were to the minute - and which he did), we couldn't take any time back and he would win. We had to throw everything at the first section to prevent him re-taking the lead. Despite the creaky state of the car, we had to go for it which is what we did. When he heard at the end of the section that we had been 33 seconds faster than Andy, he must have realised that he was up against it. If we cleared the next 2 sections, we were home and dry. 

The first part of the second section was a sharp mountain climb followed by a rapid decent. Everything was going to plan until the front left damper let go and we lost grip and slid off on a slippy bumpy right-hander and over some rocks. We reversed out (thank goodness for 4x4) and we shot down the rest of the hill (brakes by now fading badly). Bob said we could still clean this if we really go and that's what we did, just making it. 

Straight into the second section with a damaged damper and weak brakes which became a blur of revs, sliding round bends (with extra care due to the damper) and flying over crests. When we arrived at the control within the allocated time (ie cleaned it), we were congratulated. We had done it. Andy was one of the first to congratulate us; another example of his (and Andrew his co-driver's) sporting approach to our battle for the lead. 

What we didn't know was that our fuel gauge was faulty and was showing more fuel than we really had. We had put in 30 litres to top-up to 3/4 the night before and now it showed half. 

50km later we ran out of fuel, with the gauge still showing half a tank. Fortunately, the Land Rover of Nick and David was right behind and we got a tow to a nearby petrol station. Because a few car had passed us, the word at the next control was that we were in trouble and were fighting to fix our car. We were able to give everyone a cheery wave as we arrived at the control well within our allocated time. 

The car now though was struggling in several ways. Both front dampers were damaged, the front brake pads were worn through to metal and a rear wheel bearing was making an horrific noise. The drive to the final control of the rally on the Cape Town sea front was the longest 25km I have ever driven. Owain and Peter in the no 20 Mercedes kindly offered to follow us in (indicative of the real camaraderie that has developed between crews) and we finally made it unassisted to a champagne welcome at the Table Bay Hotel. 

We are here another 2 days so I plan to give a few more considered thoughts about the event which has been just a fantastic experience, visiting some amazing places yet being one of the most arduous marathon motorsport events ever devised since the 1960s. It was a privilege just to take part in such an historic event. The fact that we won it (only earlier today after a few scares) is still sinking in. I am now dropping off the sleep as I type......

Penultimate Day- Namibia

Wow - what a couple of days. Yesterday, was a mammoth day of gravel driving in the Namibian desert where 4 lane highway wide gravel roads criss-cross vast areas of desert and farmland. Today, more of the same split by passing into South Africa for 2 fabulous competitive sections encompassing fast open sections with very tight and twisty parts including a downhill slalom run overlooking long drops and with failing overheating brakes!

After 2 full days of chasing Andy Actman in his Toyota (who has fought tooth and nail for every second), we finally caught him today after throwing our all at the last 2 twisty sections of day 28 or 29. We picked up 1 min 19 to lead by a wafer thin 3 seconds and with 3 more competitive sections to come in the morning both Andy and I will be going flat out in cars that, after 4 weeks of hard driving, are squeaking, groaning, knocking, rattling and rolling. Either of our cars could expire tomorrow (and neither of us would be particularly surprised) but both of us will be going for it in what is the most exciting ever finish to a long distance marathon event. After 4 weeks of rallying over 14,000 km, the 2 leading cars are just 3 seconds apart going into the final day and both are going for the win. 

Andy is perfectly capable of taking back time when the conditions suit and the vital first section favours his car; a rough surface hill climb where mid-range grunt and good suspension travel come into their own. We are going to have to peddle very hard to hold him off as we can't match his engine power or ability to climb uphill over rough surfaces. 

One way or another, we'll be in Cape Town tomorrow afternoon and win or lose, we'll have given it our best shot on what has been a fabulous event. 

More to follow when I have more time to catch up with the last 2 days of highs and lows and give more considered reflections on events and what I might have done diff

Day 26 - Namibian Heat

A tough day with 300 miles, mostly on ranch gravel roads. These are mostly well graded and fast. 

After a 100km run-out it was into the first test, a fast section of long straights and the odd twisty bit. We dropped a few seconds from the target and Andy beat us by one second, so much of a muchness. I suspect we were faster on the twist bits and he on the straights with the benefit of his turbo. As were at 2000 metres and with temperatures already mid-20s by 8am and rising to 35, the Impreza was feeling a bit asthmatic on any climb. 

There followed 2 fast road sections (gravel roads) with fast average speeds to maintain which all the front-runners cleaned. 

After a spot of lunch and re-fill of petrol, it was off for more gravel tests. These were to an even tighter time and over twistier and hilly terrain. This usually is not our forte and we tend to get hammered on any hill-climb due to relatively high weight and modest power. In some parts, it was painful slugging up hills, by now in 35 degree heat. In order to get up the hills at any decent speed, it was essential to fly down the preceding downhill stretch as fast as possible to gain momentum and keep going flat out whatever was in the dip before the next rise began. Sometimes this was a sharp dip and sometimes a large muddy puddle a foot or so deep. There were also cattle grids at regular intervals and these had to be taken flat out whatever their state to keep momentum. Flat out in our struggling 2 litre meant no more than 80mph (fast enough for grid), though we might have hit 90 downhill. Still, we were airborne at regular intervals over the grids. 

We also had some overheating problems as did others in the relentless afternoon heat. Heat, altitude and hills don't mix well with small engined cars carrying too much weight. On further exploration, and pooling views from Grant and Simon in the Datsun, we decided to take out the air-con rad which had started to get blocked with mud and insects of a very colourful variety. Also, damage from small stones had blocked air-flow to the main cooling rad which sits directly behind it. At normal road speeds, there is no problem but in competitive sections when revs are higher, it always seemed to struggle and we often had to put the cabin heater on full to keep the engine temperature down. This meant running with the windows open, and we would get covered in dust, as we did today.  

The mod means, we no longer have aircon for the road sections, but we can live with that if we reduce the chances of engine damage. 

I was sure Andy must have been faster in his turbo diesel but seemingly he suffered as much as we did and we probably picked a little time up on the twisty sections in between the hills. That left us some 40 seconds closer to him, the gap now being 1min 24 with 3 days to go and all cars feeling the pressure and carrying the scars of 26 days of hard driving, including some of the roughest roads in the world.   

At the end of the day we arrived at Windhoek. We were so grubby and covered in dust as was everything in the car that we just had to get the car cleaned. Car washes here start the cleaning process with someone with a high pressure air hose blowing dust out of the car - and did it fly. It took several sessions to disperse it but worked a treat and a vacuum gets rid of the rest. Just a 3 hour spanner check of the car to look forward to and a few jobs to complete before dinner at 10.  

Tomorrow is perhaps the hardest day of the rally, starting at 6.30 with 850km, nearly all on gravel roads and some very tightly timed sections. 

Day 25 - Into Namibia

A long drive today of over 1000km to Tsumeb in Namibia from Livingstone in Zambia. The Hotel we stayed at in Livingstone (Zambezi Sun) was fantastic and I would highly recommend it. 

1000km might sound like a lot but there were only about a dozen bends on the whole route - mostly an arrow straight empty road as far as the eye could see for hour after hour with the occasional village or town to top up with petrol and grab a drink.  Temperatures reached into the 30s again until we hit some heavy thunderstorms in Namibia to dampen everything down. 

I liked Zambia, mostly green and lush with likeable helpful people and I suspect some of the best holiday venues. 

The passage through the border into Namibia was pretty straightforward and not too busy. We had to be disinfected though as part of a vetinary scare. This was also repeated twice en route. It consisted of our wheels being sprayed and having to wipe our feet on a disinfected towel. 

We had hoped today to see some elephants near the road but we were told later that they usually appear only in the morning or evening when off to find a water hole. Despite signs warning of elephants for much of the way, we didn't see anything other than some baboons and a variety of colourful birds. 

As we drove further into Namibia, the landscape changed as more large scale farming became evident. I was told that some white farmers moved here from Zimbabwe when their farms were taken from them. 

Later, we moved into a hilly area surrounded by cultivated land and the wealth of the area seemed to become more apparent compared to the smaller villages of huts on the road from Zambia. More expensive cars on the road, better filling stations and better stocked road-side stores and fast food restaurants. The influence from South Africa seems clear here and even the Namibian Dollar shadows the Rand at 1:1. Indeed, the currencies seem interchangeable and you can spend either in shops. 

Tomorrow, we are back into serious competitive rallying with a punishing day of tight timing on Namibian gravel roads. 

Day 24 - Lusaka to Livingstone

A day's bash to Livingstone today as the temperature climbed into the mid 30s. 

We started the day with a trip to Ashish Patel's GM garage to give the car a once-over on a ramp and pick up a new rad cap. Really nice chap and couldn't do enough for us including showing us his own highly successful Impreza rally car. Lusaka itself seems to be a developing modern city with clean well-built buildings, plenty of business going on and polite and reasonably patient drivers (a real rarity in the Cities we have travelled through so far)

The 40km drive itself was uneventful through beautiful countryside down to the Zimbabwe border at Livingstone which sits on the magnificent Victoria Falls - a World Heritage Site. The Zambezi Sun Hotel is 5 minutes walk from the falls and is beautiful. The first shock was to see Zabras grazing in the Hotel grounds. There are also Impala and Giraffes. They are all wild and wander through. They even have crocs In the lake nearby and served croc stew as one of the dishes on offer for dinner. 

The falls themselves are simply stunning and at their most magnificent at this time of year. 

Tomorrow we have a 1000km day into Namibia. Kick-off at 6.30 and unlikely to arrive before 8pm. Then we have 4 really hectic days of competition to Cape Town on the 29th. This is going to be a real test to the finish with 13 World Cup competitive sections left and many long ones still to come to decide the result. 

Day 23 - Mpika to Lusaka

A long haul of several hours today to get to Lusaka with an interesting but generously timed competitive section of 12km, 70km or so short of Lusaka along sandy tracks and with hidden gullies to catch out the unwary. 

The morning drive was on good tarmac roads, the new ones courtesy of the Chinese. There are numerous road building projects in train in most of the African countries we have passed through and we've shared hotels with Chinese contractors on several occasions. Someone said they ship in Chinese prisoners to work on the projects as cheap labour but we have seen only local labour employed alongside the Chinese managers and technical specialists. This is investment on a grand scale, no doubt tied to access rights to valuable minerals via the new roads. Many of the new roads plans seem to link areas of mineral deposits with ports. Having said that, these countries are desperately in need of new infrastructure and I guess they don't care too much who pays. 

We stopped for lunch at the equivalent of roadside services 150km or so short of Lusaka. We tried meat pies though they wouldn't tell us what meat it was. Whatever it was, it was very firm in texture. 

The competitive section was a relatively short 12km on sandy tracks. And had been shortened from the original 17km due to some rough roads and the proximity to a school. All the top 10 cleaned in the target time so no one gained an advantage even if they drove it quicker - odd but true according to the rules. The target set time is key and this was quite generous compared to others lately. 

Then off to Lusaka and a nice Hotel. Tomorrow we have another mostly touring day to Livingstone and Victoria Falls. Zambia will not see much competition due to local heavy rains which could see the rally stranded if in the wrong place at the wrong time. Competition re-commences in Namibia in 2 days. 

Day 22 - Into Zambia

Pretty straightforward day moving from Mbeya in Tanzania to 250 inside Zambia. No competitive sections to worry us or put more stress on the cars. 

So it was a 70km drive to the border. I've enjoyed Tanzania, always pretty, sometimes beautiful and occasionally stunning. The people are justifiably proud of their country and always welcoming. I feel for many of them though as we have driven through the outlying parts. So many seem to have so little; a roof, (usually in a cabin or village hut) a bed, food most of the time and a basic to reasonable education if you're lucky. Its getting better but still very primitive a few miles from each city. 

The border with Zambia was chaotic to say the least. Firstly, we had to negotiate a 1 mile queue of trucks on a 2 lane road with traffic coming into Tanzania along the lane that we were trying to use. This meant driving on the unofficial dirt track 'third lane' running parallel which was like a 4x4 training track of ups and down 30 degree slopes and a water splash. Some intrepid motorcyclists used this coming towards us, playing chicken on their Fochu machines (not sure the make will catch on in the UK). 

Busy border crossing from Tanzania to Zambia on day 22

The border crossing was the usual argy-bargy of queue's and paperwork and we were fortunate to have good 'fixers' to ease the way, pointing us from one desk to the next and telling us what documents we needed. Meanwhile, cars and lorries try to push their way through a single track road which is the border crossing, squeezing and pushing as far as they can until it is totally blocked whereupon a policeman comes out and shouts at everyone until some movement is possible - never at more than walking pace. We also spotted a number of prestige UK registered cars on a car park at the back of the border crossing buildings. As the recent countries we have passed through drive on the left like the UK, there is probably a good market for stolen UK cars coming into Africa. 

Tomorrow we have a 6 hour drive towards Lusaka and one competitive gravel section on the way. 

There has been some grumblings about running orders lately. In the stage events, I am more familiar with the seeding of cars into order is decided on how fast a crew is. If done correctly, this should avoid a car catching up another And trying to pass. In dry conditions, the dust will make the problem much more dangerous as visibility can go down to just a few yards. 

On this event seeding of the daily running order is not based on speed like a stage event but on position on any particular day. So if you pick up penalties due to a breakdown, you drop down the start list. This has been causing problems with faster cars overtaking slower cars in dangerous dusty conditions. So exceptions are made. The 911 was allowed to run at the front. Andy the current leader was quite happy as the 911 is so fast he won't him catch him and be delayed by dust. We do tend to catch Andy up though on some sections and have done so 3 times in a few days. Not only does it delay us but it is dangerous. For instance, we broke Andy's windscreen when we passed him yesterday throwing up stones and it is tempting to leave insufficient room to squeeze through when the 'red mist' has descended. There has been inconsistency from the organisers on this and cars have been put the early starting list only to be moved back down the next day. 

Massive thunderstorm this evening so we might be ín for some wet weather and dust will obviously not be a problem. 

Day 21 - Hotting Up in Tanzania

Dodoma to Mbeya today and a couple of hard and fast rocky gravel competitive sections on the way. The first was more to our liking and though very rough in places. We overtook the leader Andy in the section and took a 2 minute benefit. The second was more to Andy's liking being an uphill rocky hillclimb where suspension travel and mid-range grunt is paramount; both of which we have in short supply. So we should be 1 minute closer to him. 

Then a long road run to Mbeya through progressively greener and even more lush countryside. Beautiful well tendered fields and stunning forests stretching to the background hills and mountains in the distance: quite stunning. 

I didn't actually sightsee all of the 300km. Bob drove and I had a little snooze, having been since 5 spanner checking the front hubs. I tried on the London to Sydney Rally some years ago to find a way of sleeping in an upright rally seat and avoid the 'nodding dog' syndrome. We tried on that event a foam surgical collar which velcros around the neck and on which to rest your chin. Even with belts tight it didn't quite fit the bill so I experimented with a velcro strap to hold the collar back to the seat. 

This must have looked rather odd - surgical collar, intercom headphones, sunglasses and a velcro strap round all to keep my head from flopping about. It might have looked odd but - I was out like a light for over an hour, essential when we are surviving on 5 or at most 6 hours sleep a night. Just outside Mbeya, we were stopped for speeding at perhaps the 5th or 6th Police speed check on the day. I've no idea when the limit was but we were doing 48km/hr an the officer's radar display. Bob was driving so - 'tut-tutted' and the officer we must pay a fine of 37 Shillings. I worked that out at just a few pence so we very happily offered to pay it straightaway. Bob toddled off to see another man and soon returned, 'they mean 37000 Shillings!' Now that's over $200. They were intrigued by the car though and when we pleaded poverty and told them we were raising money for schools in outlying areas of Africa, they let us off. 

We arrived at the rather less than luxury hotel in Mbeya to be greeted by the 911 crew Joost and Jacques who had cracked a bottle of champers. Chilled and crisp after a long day in the dust, this is the way to go rallying - its winning me over. This was followed by gin and tonics. When we unloaded our dusty gear for a clean out and re-pack, they watched astonished that we would carry so much gear. Joost very kindly offered to carry some of our kit in his 911 which of course we accepted. He is now officially carrying our sand shovel to reduce our weight and increase speed, very sporting (either that or he knows we have some more soft sand sections coming up). So there you have it, the 911 has become part of our service and support crew. Who would have thought it.

Bad news reached us when we heard that Rod Taylor and Ian Morgan had rolled their Toyota this morning which was badly damaged but drivable. Fortunately, they were unhurt. They were lying third so it will very disappointing to Rod and Ian and I look forward to seeing them back, hopefully tomorrow. This puts our service barge the 911 in third, which ordinarily would be the perfect position from which to hand us our sand shovel should we need digging out. Unfortunately, they are so much quicker in that rocket-ship of a car, that they run first on the road useful to scare away the wildlife. 

Considering I'm in the heart of safari country my animal count is miserable. Others boast of seeing elephants by waterholes, giraffes through the trees and wildebeest sweeping majestically across the great plain. I've only seen a variety of monkeys, mainly because I'm usually driving and it doesn't pay to look elsewhere when traffic can be so erratic and potholes abound.

Day 21 southern Tanzania after finishing competitive sections involving some very muddy watersplashes.  

And afterwards. Got a punctured tyre repaired at same garage. 

Just road sections tomorrow so a break from outright competition. We pass into Zambia. 

Day 20

After a relatively late start from the excellent Mount Aru Hotel in Arusha, we started a 100 mile drive towards Dodoma across some great African countryside; whole plains opening up and very green. When we arrived in the ares of the competitive sections, it was wet. This was the first rain since Europe for the rally but wet weather in Africa is different because all but the main roads are dirt or mud. 

The competitive section was over 100km of winding African bumpy bush roads. So are just over 3 minutes behind leader Andy Actman in his Toyota and he was determined to hold onto his position. We were faster on the tight and twisty sections and he had more grunt on the hill climbs and more suspension travel over the rough stuff. We were going well and overtook him when we thought we had a puncture so we pulled over to look and no puncture - despite a smell of rubber.

Anyway, we finished the day exactly the same amount of time behind him as at the start which was a shame as without the puncture false alarm, we would have saved 2 minutes. 

Andy is a good guy though (as is his co-driver Andrew) and they were good to their word that if we caught them up (we leave at 1 minute intervals), he would pull over and he did. He paced himself excellently though to prevent us picking up any time on him. 

One surprise was appearing round a bend at speed to see a troop of baboons lining the road, obviously wanting to see what the noise was about. They looked on curiously as we passed but didn't seem too impressed.  

We then had a beer at the hotel in Dodoma with the Belgian team from the 911. We've got to know them better over the weeks and this is how to go rallying, with friend and lots of supplies; and I don't just mean car spares. Several of the 4x4s are in the team too and while one principally deals with servicing the gorgeous Tuthill built 911 (Frances Tuthill himself being with the rally), others (also competing) also carry a lot more including some excellent food and drink. They are very hospitable with their supplies but Joost and Jacque from the 911 are also very competitive and quick. Despite taking an hour's penalty for using non-period suspension which they declared, they could still catch up. Tomorrow will be a good day for them with a rocky hill climb and they are bound to do well in Namibia and South Africa. They are currently in third with a full week still to go and other cars and crews are feeling the strain of hard daily driving on some of the most challenging roads in the world followed by evening maintenance and repairs. 

The scene is set for a fascinating finale over the last week of the event. I'm chasing Andy and Joost and Jacque are chasing us both in a much faster car but more than an hour behind. 

Just arriving Dodoma, Tanzania after muddy section in Tanzanian hills. 

Arriving Dodoma Hotel. This is after car had been washed - see earlier. 

Roadside repairs at a Kenyan 'workshop'

About to start a competitive section in the Tanzanian jungle area 100 miles from Dodoma. 

Our poor £10k Impreza is taking a hammering but is holding together. We now have a little more ride height at the back but there are several squeaks, bumps and groans on the rough stuff. We are not alone in this though and an examination of cars in the car park displays lots of war-wounds on every car. Never have strips of gaffa tape, tie-wraps and self tapping screws been used in so noble a cause as to get our cars to Cape Town. It would be a real shame to drop out now. Unfortunately, that happened yesterday with the other 911 in our class when it caught fire and was burnt out. Fortunately, the crew got out safely. 

Tomorrow, we are moving towards Zambia but a long heavy day of further punishment for the cars. 

Day 19- Into Tanzania

I'm updating my blog after a relentless few days, driving across Ethiopia and into Kenya for our rest day in in the beautiful hotel Safari Park in Nairobi. My Blackberry expired in Ethiopia, and only coming  back to life in Nairobi at the end of 'rest day' on day 18, so a few days have gone by in a flurry of long driving days, frenetic work on the car and late nights when dropping into bed never seemed to come soon enough.   

I'm actually tapping this update in a roadside "jua kali", or roadside workshop watching a strut top being welded. In Nairobi, it seemed such a good idea to try new rear springs with longer travel. Unfortunately, the rate was too soft and we bottomed out once or twice too often this morning in southern Kenya (19th Jan) and a slightly bent strut top was the result. That'll teach us. As Philip Young rightly said to me, 'if something is working, leave it alone'. 

It is amazing what these guys can do on a bit of sandy ground as some of the pics will show. We emptied the boot, removed the strut (fortunately undamaged), and off to work they set. A bit of judicious hammering while we fitted the original springs to the strut, a few flickers from the electric welder in the right spots, some final fettling, and we are back in business and on our way to Arusha in Tanzania. 

To catch up on a few highlights of the last few days:  I'm starting to lose track of time as the rally continues to drop down in Africa. 

Ethiopia was fantastic. We lost count of the number of villages and town folk that came out several tiers deep to cheer us through. Also, we could buy beers after the dry countries of Saudi and Sudan. The gravel stages were mostly smooth and winding and we were even able to set a fastest time.

Then into Kenya and Moyale. A bit of a rude awaking. The rally has been having problems lately in locating fuel. Only about 1 in 5 stations in Ethiopia had petrol - diesel was more abundant. Were we were filling up the tank and cans when we could,  but were getting short when we crossed into Kenya at the border and into  Moyale, with the prospect of serious miles the next day on the punishing drive to Marsabit - the so-called 'road to Mars'. 

There followed a rugby scrum at the first station with no pumps and fuel sold in 20 litre plastic cooking oil drums. It was everyman for himself and the price for 20 litres of questionable quality fuel increased steadily in the next hour in a classic exercise of supply and demand economics in action.  It was $60 for the first car, soon $85 and we came in striking a good deal at $110 for 30 litres after telling the guy in the Liverpool shirt that I knew Steven Gerrard. We had a bit of argy-bargy but we got there in the end after driving them down from a pretty optimistic $500. 

I decided to use our fuel filter which will not allow water through. Unsurprisingly, I was just a tad suspicious, despite the assurances from the salesman that his fuel was 'the best in Kenya' and could be used in Formula 1. After filling, a good centimeter of water was left lying in the filter which he tried desperately to make go through the filter; swaying it, jiggling then swirling it to no avail. 'Ah, there is something wrong with your filter, it is for cheap fuel'. 'It seems to have found some' I replied. 

That night our fuel filter found plenty of use as it was passed around until the locals became quite wary of it, looking worried when it appeared. It probably saved quite a few breakdowns. 

The first part of the road to Marsabit was a competitive section. Now, I get upset at the quality of some roads in Guildford where I live, bouncing into the odd ill-repaired pothole is annoying. I will never criticise them again. In fact, I will write on my return to the council saying that compared to the road from Moyale to Marsabit in Kenya, the roads in Guildford are smooth enough for the Queen herself to skateboard on - which I'm told she is partial to in her private moments.  

But I digress. This road is unbelievable. It part boulder size rocks, part ridged sandy surface over sharp rocks, part deep ruts (60cm at least) left by lorries when it rains and just a few washed out gullies for good measure. Cars were ruining dampers from the start. Owen and Matt in the MG destroyed all 4 of their dampers in the first few miles and others were similarly affected. The rally equivalent of ER was busy throughout the day and into the night. The largest mileage of the day was after the competitive section and was even rougher. Mostly impossible to go faster than 20mph without damage to the car and walking pace was required for perhaps 25% of it. And this went on for hour after hour to cover nearly 200 miles. It was soul destroying to feel the car taking so much punishment. 

I'm sure the first stages of our top mount stress started here, as it did with lots of others. 

We arrived in Marsabit after a full day of bouncing around, we were to play happy campers in our first night under canvass. It was very well done with full facilities including a hoisted bucket of hot water for a shower and some excellent food cooked onsite. Everyone slept heavily despite the strange animal noises coming from the nearby woods. The roads in Marsabit are either wet or dry mud and undulate with the weather. The locals learn to live with either ankle deep mud or clouds of dust depending on the season. It must be a tough life when the only roads in or out are almost impossible to drive in an ordinary car. Buses do travel the road loaded to the gills including on the roof. They occasionally came rocking down the road with people hanging on where they could and they weren't stopping or moving aside for anyone.  

The next day it was more of the same with one of the roughest stretches of road out of Marsabit towards Nairobi. More car torture. Some having taken one route round the worst rocks, had to reverse back when facing an impassable gully. Then still more, the worst being the corrugations. The whole car shakes and pieces start falling off and come loose. We tried to gather speed to float over the top but would then be faced with more rocks. Momentum was impossible.  Gradually, the road started to smooth out until, bliss, a nearly new tarmac road courtesy of China. A lot of us could have kissed it. 

After crossing the equator, it was another 100km to Nairobi and the luxury of the Safari Park Hotel. The next day was a rest day (so called) but most worked for many hours on their cars repairing the damage of the last few days. 

We gave our car a thorough going over and service including a bit of welding on the rear left.  We bought our car  accident damaged (hence cheap) and this part of the car required a little extra support. Some very gratefully received help from local rally driver Aakif Varani and his team who offered to help out. This ended up with an ad hoc dinner with the current Kenya rally champion Ravi Chana and his rally-driving brother Jazzy and family while the welding was completed. 

Now, I've made a lot of our Continental Vanco 6 ply van tyres and their benefits and limitations over the last 7000km down through Europe and into the middle east and north east Africa. We had one puncture and they served us well. But, they were starting to show a bit of wear and tear with sidewall cuts here and there. We had an offer from Aakif of some locally sourced gravel  tyres so decided to try them out. As our new rear springs were so problematical, our minds were on other things than tyres though this morning. 

We've sent our van tyres a week on so we can change if we've made a mistake or conditions change so they might yet make a return. Certainly, the  sidewall hardness of our new tyres didn't help with the suspension bottoming out this morning. 

Tonight in Arusha and tomorrow we push further into Tanzania and more gravel sections, hopefully with a more robust rear suspension. 

Day 14 & 15 Through Ethiopia and on to Kenya.

Day 14 started with 2 gravel stages, where we set the fastest time, then after this a tarmac run to our overnight stay  after negotiating Addis Ababa, both challenging and traumatic.

Day 15 saw the day start with the leader board largely unchanged, the 911 guys are running very well, fast car, good team and very helpful to the rest of us. Andy in the lead car should also do well, having good ground clearance.  Tomorrow I think will be the toughest challenge we have yet faced and I predict there will be a massive shake-up in the leader board with time differences reaching into hours rather than minutes as we tackle what is reputed to be the roughest road in the world.

Ybello in Ethiopia 100km from Kenyan border 15th Jan. Lined up for start of competitive section.  

Moyale, Kenya 15th Jan

Just entered Kenya. Friendly soldier looking after us. 

Across Sudan and into Ethiopia - Day 12 and 13 Day 13

Thursday 12th was interesting. As I left off on my last entry, we were at Port Sudan and the clock was ticking. After paying a fee (we didn't really work out what for) of $80 each, we left about 3.30pm for the 700km drive to Gederef. And what a drive it was. 

Mostly on one road, it  this varied from decent tarmac to moon surface and switched from one to the other with no warning. The problem was that at night (which fell just 3 hours from departure), we couldn't see the rough stuff until too late - unless we were to drive at 30mph the whole way which clearly was not practical with a 7.30 start the next day from Gedaref. 

We hit one rough section being able to brake only to about 60 (remembering to come off the brakes just before hitting to allow some suspension travel) and we just bounced in the air from the pot holes - crash bang wallop. We were sure we must have damaged something but apart from some evidence of body flexing, we can't find anything. They build 'em tough at Langworth Motorsport in Lincoln. 

Eventually, we tucked behind the Datsun 240Z of Grant and Simon who were themselves tucked behind a pickup of the police who were looking after us along the route. He knew the road and would take us up to 90+ and suddenly put on his hazard lights and slow right down to negotiate some moonscape at no more than 10mph. Then it was off again at full pelt. 

We were truly knackered by the time we arrived at 12.30 but thought we had better fill up with fuel at the local station with a policeman minder in tow. This turned out to be right across from a Sudanese disco and the car was quickly surrounded by about 30 young lads who were boisterous but friendly (no alcohol in Sudan - at least that we found). Our policeman was a bit concerned though, as more poured out of the club, and called for back-up. They must have been nearby because 2 minutes later, a truckload of armed police screeched into the garage and the lads scarpered immediately. You obviously don't mess with these guys. To be fair to them, they looked after us well. 

The first 3 hours of the drive gave us a limited chance to see some of Sudan - the bit that we saw at first being a beautiful desert backdrop to a gorgeous sunset. The local inhabitants obviously have it tough. Some had made huts out of various corrugated iron sheets and whatever they could find and others lived in tents of various shapes and sizes. I remember the same feeling in India in 2004 on the London - Sydney Rally, seeing people who quite obviously have nothing eeking out whatever living they can on the edge of a desert, while we whizz by in our western cars  feels  wrong. Some might call it an outrageous liberty. This is one of the reasons I am trying to raise funds for African Revival and am carrying books to help set up a school library. If we can make a difference from our travels somewhere en route then we should.  

Some of the others had worse luck on the Gedaref drive.  One of the Toyotas hit a donkey in the dark - a common hazard apparently as they just wander about. Others were showing a few body cracks and creases on the cars from hitting deep hidden pot holes a bit too hard. 

Not much time to look at the car today (13th) and it was off early for the 100 mile drive to the Ethiopian border. As we travelled, the countryside began to get greener and this seemed to start in earnest at the border. The border process was efficiently handled and we were on our way in about 90 mins which rather caught the organisers by surprise. The reception we received wherever we travelled today was fantastic. School children had been given time off to cheer us through towns and villages on the route and seemingly most other villagers came to see what was happening. The main streets were lined with people clapping in a very civilized way for every car that came through and waving banners - Welcome to Ethiopia. We really couldn't have had a more friendly welcome. They were also very curious about the cars and us coming up when we stopped to have a chat. One was practicing his English on the rally plates. "Shouldn't it be From London to Cape Town Rally rather than The London to Cape Town Rally?", he asked. I referred him to Bob. 

Then off for a couple of competitive sections in the twisty mountain roads designed to test a loaded car's ability to drag itself up more then 2000 metres. Most managed this. Then, 3 hours to get to our night halt at Bahir Dar which backs onto a beautiful lake. 

So far, we have seen little evidence of the distress suffered in past years in Ethiopia - just lots of smiling faces and interest in the rally, the cars and curiosity about us (and we must look an odd bunch). But you can sense that the concern remains there under the surface. When it rains, as it did today, people are happier and they can manage for themselves; the land is basically very fertile and we saw evidence of that everywhere. When it doesn't, they don't have much to fall back on. 

Tomorrow it is back to the gravel with a long gravel competitive section and 750km total to our next halt still in Ethiopia. Another very long day but at least  in daylight. 

From Jeddah to Sudan by Ferry

The ferry is an old Egyptian Ro-Ro and pretty basic - we have a few little fellow passengers travelling with us of the insect kind. When the cleaner arrived he just sprayed air freshener around and left - our towels are like little serviettes and we had just 1 each. Still stuck at customs at  3.30pm and 700km to go today. Local authorities now asking for $80/car to let us go. Should just get to hotel at Gederef by the time we need to set off again to get to Ethiopian border tomorrow afternoon. 

The road is apparently pretty good so we'll see. Filling up with fuel might be a problem at night so we'll be filling our cans at the first opportunity. Taking care now with water and food and have started on the Malaria tablets. 

Arriving at the port, Sudan

Our 2 litre standard non-turbo powerhouse. Last time anyone worked on this was in Japan. See larger radiator. We keep being asked if it is an intercooler...

Day 11 - Onto Sudan

Just 300km today from Yanbu to Jeddah from where we catch the ferry to Port Sudan tonight. 200km on a straight 4 lane road with heavy traffic at either end. 

We managed to get to Jeddah with enough time to visit the local Subaru dealer and pick up some spare brake pads, having used our first set of spares. Also gave it an underneath spanner check on the ramp while there and they couldn't help enough once they saw the car and heard our story. This is despite us arriving just before prayers started at 1. Good job we did - they didn't open again till 4 which would have been too late for us. 

We then nipped into the McDonalds next door and were directed into the 'singles' entrance rather than the 'family' one. Considering it was inhabited only by men and had only a mens' toilet, it was pretty clear that single women would not be expected!

Then off to sit at the docks in Jeddah to await the ferry at which the missing Datsun reappeared having been air-freighted at great expense from Greece and looking the worse for wear with a bent shell. Just about still in the rally though. 

A lot of grumbling going on about the reduced penalties stemming from getting stuck in the sand in Egypt with almost everyone we have talked to referring to it as favouritism for some of the front runners. The penalties applied were more favourable than those applied earlier when cars got stuck in the mud in Greece and a lot of crews are not happy with it. One crew said, on the basis of the penalties awarded, it would have better for them had they not run through the final desert section at all - which was actually pretty punishing on the cars and made them late at the final control.   

The stuck cars missed 4 controls and were late at the last one which would usually carry a penalty of 30 mins for each or there and thereabouts. For the mud, it was reduced to half that as some got stuck simply because of the log-jam. In the desert section, when a similar thing happened, the penalties were reduced yet further to 40 mins max and many see that as inconsistent relative to earlier. 

Never easy to make these decisions though and I have some sympathy for the fwd guys as I've been there.

Still, only a handful of cars (us included) have completed every competitive section in every different set of conditions and level of difficulty set by the organisers which is what we built the car to achieve as per the published rules. 

Should arrive Sudan tomorrow morning for a long drive to Gederef - 8hrs on the road. Hope we can clear customs and immigration quickly. So far 3 hours is the average. 

Saudi - Day 10

Long road sections today and tomorrow. No competition as the 2 all-women crews can't drive their own cars in Saudi. Bit of a goodwill visit really. In Yanbu tonight and off to Jeddah tomorrow to pick up the evening ferry to Sudan. 

Long clear roads for most of today with some police escorts along the way. We were stopped after 50km and about 8 of us gathered together. 2 police cars up front in each lane of the dual carriageway and 1 behind and we were off in convoy for about 100 miles with police further along the route closing junctions and stopping traffic. On we flew at 90+ until suddenly they peeled off and left us to it - probably because we had passed through their patch. 

We stopped for petrol at a station slightly off the main road and the car soon attracted a group of about 10 young boys of about 10 or 11, most wearing either Chelsea of Man Utd shirts but who spoke little English. After filling up and visiting the facilities (a kind of open plan WC arrangement) we were pulling out when a small boy running alongside and smiling knocked on the window and shouted "f*** you, f*** you", smiling all the time and pretty clearly not having a clue what he was saying. Probably thought this was goodbye in English. When we got to the hotel, we could see that someone had had a go at trying to pull the rear rally plate off...

The cars are all parked outside the hotel with the police in attendance. There are about 100 teenage lads, some in the tarted up cars zooming up and down. Any crew that leaves the hotel is inundated by the lads for photos and to point to their cars and pose with them. There are also a number of dads with their sons showing them round the cars. One told us it was 25 years since he saw rally cars like this in Saudi and he wanted to show his son as his father had taken him to see the cars then. Everyone says "Welcome to Saudi Arabia" and is very friendly. 

Jeddah tomorrow night and then off to Sudan and Africa proper for a 700km day on Thu. Car all checked over and running well. Van tyres somehow seem better suited to this climate and the 28 degrees C it was today. 

Egypt - Day 9 in the Desert.

3 desert stages lined up for today so it was another early start from Aie Sokha for a 200km drive to a cafe holding control near the desert section. Here we witnessed a bad accident just 100m from the cafe which involved serious injuries. Fortunately, there were lots of police in attendance. 

The first section was 28km of mixed desert; soft sand, rocky tracks and wadis with dried river beds (which are always extra soft). It was the latter that caused yet another traffic jam of stuck cars. Cars were to leave at 2 min intervals due to dust and we were to catch quite a lot. 

We saw Owen Turner start off in his fwd MG and he struggled to get traction from the outset. We've driven desert stages before some years before on a fwd Peugeot. I could tell he was going to struggle as he moved off the line scrabbling for grip. It was perhaps a mistake to use his gravel tyres. They tend to bite into sand and therefore dig in. Ordinary tyres are more likely to float across the top of the sand if you can gather sufficient momentum and keep it up. 

Navigation was very tricky with tracks in all directions but the satnav helped, giving an arrow to the next point to compare to the roadbook. We arrived in a dry river bed canyon section and we saw the crew of second place Andy in the distance quickly jumping back in their car after sportingly trying to tow Owen out of deep soft sand in which he was firmly stuck. Owen immediately got stuck again and others subsequently were to stack up behind him. We managed to get through and were off after Andy who was slightly off route to our left. Our track didn't quite allow us to head him off and when he rejoined our track, we were in his dust and had to back off. We tried moving off to the right but we couldn't quite match him and get past so followed him into the control. 

The next section was cancelled so we shot off to the third section start where it was clear by the absence of cars as the minutes passed that not many had got through the first section. The 911 had rocketed through though - not surprising from a driver who has done the Paris-Dakar 7 times. 

The next and final competitive section for the day was a 7km loop starting with a long bumpy straight with hidden dips and crests. Our front lower shield took several big impacts in the dips which bent it slightly back into shape after hitting a big rock in Greece. Our time matched Andy's. 

The end result was a change in the leader board with yet another approach to penalties being adopted for failures of those stuck to get to controls. Previously, penalties have been halved from those in the regs when sections have been blocked and time lost. Today, less than half published penalties were applied no doubt to maintain some competitive interest. Most lost 40 mins rather than 2 hours. 

The changes meant we rose one place to 2nd but what happened today could easily happen to us, with more than half of the event still to go. I only hope we will get similar treatment relative to the rules when it happens. 

We now move onto a part of the rally which focuses on road sections through Saudi and Sudan with 500km tomorrow before catching another ferry into Sudan (the best and safest route into Sudan apparently). 

Bored on ferry..

.. so thought I would jot down a few notes. 

Well, a week gone on the London to Cape Town Rally or 25% as we enter Egypt early tomorrow morning (Sun 8th Jan). What have I learnt so far?

Firstly (though this might change when we experience northern Africa), van tyres might not have been the best choice. While we are the highest placed car using them, we have consistently been beaten only by cars using more grippy rally tyres. The difference on dry tarmac is less and on the wet, it is more. When muddy, it is very marked indeed. If we had used gravel tyres in Europe, we would have done better. 

Secondly, it is important to do well early and get up the seeding. We have missed most of the pile-ups hitting those further back by being up at the front. 

Thirdly, this is primarily a navigator's rally. You need to be in the right place at the right time. This means juggling the detailed road book with the trip meter and the satnav to get the right junctions and turnings and all while bouncing down bumpy roads at speed. The reason we did well so early was down to Bob in the lanes of Kent. When the crews of some very serious cars got lost and gave up to go to the ferry, Bob got us round and in a good position. There will be the odd mistake sure, but we've made less than most of the others. 

Fourthly, our fellow competitors are an interesting bunch, from all wakes of life. There are several crews driving MGs and as these naturally have something in common they help each other. When the all-girl crew in car 24, hit a roundabout due to a diesel spillage in fog in Italy, they all rallied round and helped to get the car fixed and on the ferry for Egypt. 

A particular mention in despatches here for Owen and Matt in the current leading car, another MG. Matt is even courting a thick ear and stitches after falling off a step ladder while trying to take remove a bend in the girl's car sump guard by dropping a garage car hoist onto it weighted with their car. The hoist then got stuck with Owen's car at max height. While trying to fix it, Matt fell off. They were nearly out of the rally because of a broken Greek garage hoist. 

Then there are the classics guys. These are devotees of the highest order of particular classic marques like Peugeot, Volvo, Mercedes, Datsun and Ford (though strangely only one Escort on this rally). They could talk for days about camshaft shim variations  dating from 1973. They form one of the strongest bonds with their fellow class crews because they spend so much time mending their cars and helping each other out of some crisis or other. Most seem to relish adversity. "Our cylinder head needs rebuilding again - means another late night for us!" they exclaim with barely disguised joy before setting to the task with others bringing them tea and snacks through the evening And into the night. A central part of the enjoyment on an event like this for these guys is keeping a 30 year old car going against the odds. A breakdown is not a cause of despair, it's another excuse to get the tools out and 'get stuck in'. 

Then there are the professionals. With an almost unlimited budget and a beautiful hand-built car worth well into 6 figures, they have matching jackets and are often found huddled together discussing tactics, tyre choices and various pieces of intelligence gathered on the next day's events. Individually, they are perfectly pleasant but they are men on a mission. They have another competitor vehicle acting as their service barge  (which is legal - you just have to buy 2 entries) to carry spare everything so they want for nothing. Accordingly, they are the ones to watch.

Looking at the other 'valiant and keen' amateurs in the field, they are a real mixed bunch. There are adventurers in a mixture of big mostly modern 4x4's; some not having been on a rally before and enjoying it all the more. This group even includes a couple of husband and wife crews. 

One 911 has what looks like a mattress on the roof - really a cover for spare tyres and tools. There's a classic 240Z carrying just about everything they and the car might need for at least a year and another Datsun which seems to be carrying only 2 small holdalls. This one hit a local car in Greece and missed the ferry. They are air freighting it to Jedda to pick up the route. The Morgan V8 expired in Greece too so the crew have left the car and will be hiring a 4x4 here in an attempt to keep going and follow the rally. 

All the crews seem to have one thing in common; they take this very seriously and are fiercely competitive against those around them in the daily results. Very serious during the day and good natured at night in the bar re-living the day's events, dramas and controversies of which there are usually quite a few. The deputy clerk of the course Peter regularly has in tow a couple of competitors querying something or other about their times. In the last days of stuck cars, he has been a busy man. 

Then there is the organising team. About 10 in total including volunteers to man the controls, a doctor (Norwegian Army special forces) and the backroom team crunching the times and compiling daily results tables. The general approach is relaxed and friendly. 

Postscript

We landed in Alexandria earlier today (Sun) and went straight out in City traffic. Blimey, what a drive it is down the 200 or so miles to and around Cairo. Anything goes on these roads. When there are lane markings (which is rare), no one takes notice of them anyway. Every man for himself and nearly all cars carry the scars of Egyptian roads. People just stop in the middle of the road to speak to someone, buy oranges, change a wheel or even just have a pee. We finished in the dark and perhaps only half the cars showed any lights. Makes it all pretty stressful.

One surreal moment occurred when we heard a police siren approaching from behind in a busy 4 lane highway. We pulled over to let him through. But he pulled alongside and inside sat 3 para-military policemen smiling and gesticulating to us to go faster. Not wanting to disappoint, we speeded up and they followed still waving. They still had their siren on and lights flashing so cars moved aside and we must have gone 20 miles weaving through the traffic - from lane 1 to 4 sometimes with them in front and sometimes behind at about 95mph. We passed several other rally cars. Some must have thought we were being chased and others simply looked puzzled to watch us whizzing by behind a police car with flashing lights and siren and with the occupants laughing and waving out of the window. Wonder if it will catch on in UK. 

Tomorrow, we are off to do some desert stages before catching the ferry to Saudi.