17JUN13:
“A very warm day took us across more Russian Steppes, we
drove out of Samara with the reinforcements of several of those who have been
playing catch-up. The sun shone and the temperature rose, in the shade of a
veranda at the mid-morning coffee-break we noticed a thermometer on the wall:
36°C (97°F).
…. Some of the days have been long and demanding and the
fragile-looking car looks far more suited to shorter, less gruelling event like
the Trials-scene back home, than taking on a drive over challenging roads for
the biggest single land-mass between two capital cities.
Reliability is clearly going to influence results as the
fleet of tired rallycars continue the westward haul towards Paris. We have
several mountain climbs, as Time Trials, closed down specially for us in both
Austria and Switzerland, and circuit tests before then, with a gravel and dirt
track across several miles of open farmland tomorrow, out final Russian Time
Trial…. the pressure remains relentless.
The all-tarmac highway was rippled tarmac for most of the
way, the effects of the hot summers and long periods well below freezing
winters leave their mark, and today was demanding work for most, while looking
light work and easy on paper.
The heat of the day caused fuel vaporisation problems for
the big 14-litre La France, the crew reckoning they just could not run fast
enough to keep a good flow of air flowing through the radiator, the giant
wheels make easy running over bad roads, but they had to stop to jettison a
side panel of the front of the car, to be carried by Sweep Andy Inskip, as an
aid to better air-flow.
Others made light work of it. Ice-creams were the order of
the day at a mid-day café-stop, where the Japanese team bought a large bag of
cornets for Paul Heal and Ed Rutherford to distribute, and where we overheard
the navigator of car 31, the Derby Bentley saloon – which is one of the most
original and least modified cars in the event – sum up their day: According to
Michael Dow, “We are all living the dream.”
-Peking to Paris Rally Report
Leaving Samara, Len's doing his job...
What can I say - We can't stop ourselves
:
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