Day#26: Kiev to Lviv

22JUN13:

Track day, a nice paved course:Len was allowed to drive with certain conditions..

The Newly Weds..

Lars and Anette Cars fixed and we are HAPPY !

Ken Mac's new bike

Kim got "married" today

The cable car in Kiev - a great view at the top

Our $6 Car wash..

The  skyline from our hotel

“The town of Lviv might not be very well known but this old city in Western Ukraine certainly knows how to throw a good welcome.

We drove through the streets tonight and word filtered back that we were in for a surprise. A large arch had been built across one street, closed specially for us, two streets were given over to the welcome of the rally, a ramp installed, a jazz band brought in to thump away at music like Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines, and everyone else had a street-party. You could hardly move for people, push-chairs, children, elderly residents who recalled a street-race style Grand Prix back in 1930, everyone was here… over 5,000 turned out, and a large marquee was erected on a lawn for spectators to welcome us into their arms. Inching past vulnerable toes, it took half an hour to go one kilometre to the hotel at the far end of the street lined with local classic-cars.

With a road regarded as too bumpy and too rough to enable us to make rapid progress today, we instead were all given a last-minute re-route, and the coloured map-book came in most handy – everyone seems to have navigated today without a hitch, and the Dutch who have been urging us to put in more navigation must have felt at home.

The day began with a circuit-test outside Kiev. Again a network of fast flowing corners with very short straights – not a fast circuit, but a big emphasis on braking, and handling, requiring the right lines to hook them all together. Three outstanding efforts today show that there is now a spring in our steps as we all race for the European Trophy – the cups for best Vintageant and best Classic in the section from Kiev to Paris.

Fastest round the track was the experienced Holden crew of car 100, the pick-up with a mighty V8 engine thundered round and made light work of it all, Peter St. George clocking up a time of 5 minutes 18 seconds, nobody got anywhere near close to that. He now leads the Classics in the European Trophy after a consistent day crossing country and arriving on time.

Best Vintageant was the V8 Ford Coupe of Mike Reeves and Michelle Jana Chan, who posted a time of 6:00 minutes dead, 15 seconds ahead of regular Vintageant top-performer in the red Chevy, Phil Garratt, and no less than 50 seconds better than the Chrysler 75 roadster of Bruce and Ben Washington. Second fastest on the track in the Vintageants was Lars Rolner on 6:12, three seconds ahead of the Chevy, but putting in a most determined effort was the tiny MG TC of Peter Zernial, who romped round the track hugging the tightest of lines through the bends to record 6:34, gritty determination today saw him move up the overall leader board, and he is now 8th overall, “we have been 18th before now, but this is our best position yet… we are really going for it in the coming week.” The effort of the MG today outshone many of the favourites, with the MG setting the same time as the Ford Model A Special of Bill Cleyndert, also on 6:34.

The Woodcock Brothers were the only other crew to post a time under 7-minutes in the Vintageants. Jenny Mah in the Model A went round in 8:24, pink wheels glinting in the sun and going so slowly Jenny had time to take photographs as she went… and posted a time that was a full minute quicker than the slowest time of the day, underlining what a big variety we have in terms of not just performance, but approach to the event.

In the Classics, the big Citroen DS23 posted 6:08, Gerry Crown posted 5:22, and Peter Lovett’s Porsche smoothed out the corners to post 5:30, nobody getting near the time of the hairy Holden Ute.

John Layzell’s VW Beetle developed a pistol-cracking backfire on the over-run into corners and set 6:14, and John Rich was a surprise performer in the 4x4 Toyota Jeep, posting 6:17, a reward for a particularly neat driving effort. Richard White and Richard Scott were neat and tidy and did well to record a time in their Volvo Amazon of 5:59 after a steady run. Philippe Clamens had the vote for “best noise” in the V8 Mercedes Coupe, the V8 snaked around the course in 5:47.

So, in the European Trophy-stakes, the heat is on, with the V8 Ford Coupe outgunning the rest of the pack of Vintageants with a solid performance, and the Holden pick-up truck surprising everyone with a time that has out-gunned all the regular Classic category favourites.”

Peking to Paris Rally Report