THE INCA TRAIL
the big South American adventure rally
Long, hard day fantastic welcome
 Officials Bill Price and Mike Johnson check in the Hyundai Galloper of Chris and Jill Wray at the end of the Serra do Juncal Explorer Section, Brazil |
The next section a combination of Medal and Explorer, to be run both by 4x4s and Classics over gravel roads for 63km again proved tougher than expected owing to the previous day's heavy rain. First car in, Paul Merryweather / Sandra Deacon's Mercedes, looked as though it had made light of it all.
But as more reported in, crews who had been 'trying hard' showed their battle scars. John Blanckley's Austin A90 had an offside front wheel running at a crazy angle following an argument with a tree stump. There were one or two damaged exhausts, too. Everyone was keen to work on or check their cars as soon as they could.
Hopefully they weren't too tired to notice the brilliant welcome they received as they drew into the final control of the day outside the cathedral at Londrina as a 12-piece brass band salsaed the early evening away.
Two-thirds of the local British community joined the waiting throng (there are only three in total); the director of Londrina race circuit came to join us, as well as the local classic car club, one of whose members gallantly arrived in his beautifully presented Model A Ford. We had a civic welcome, too. The Chief Executive of the city stayed throughout the period the Time Control was open, and made a special presentation to Joanna Brown and Don Griffiths to commemorate the rally's visit before he departed.
Special mention goes to another enthusiast - a true supporter of the rally. He's the owner of a local garage, who arrived to say he was prepared to stay open all night if need be to help sort any vehicles that needed attention. So by morning John Blanckley had his front wheel back in place and new tyres all round. John Bateson / Colin Francis's broken half shaft - incurred on the same section - was repaired, as was the holed exhaust of Paul and Jayne Wignall's Volvo and probably a few more as well.
But there should be a special word for the city of Londrina itself, which these days has a population in excess of half a million. Its name, we were told, means 'Born in London', and Hugh Thomas, the son of its British founding father 66 years ago, was one of the two British to join us. Our control was just in front of the site of his family home in those early years how fitting.
Flights of fantasy
Part of HERO's organising team is taking internal scheduled flights between sections of the event to ensure they stay ahead of the game. We were warned the other day by our travel agent here in Brazil that we could have problems if it was overcast and rainy. Why so? Well, apparently they close their airports here when the weather gets like that. Now, if that were England ...
Screen Stars
Howard Seymour and Ann Bennett wondered what they'd done wrong when their Range Rover was flagged down by police today. Had they been speeding? They hoped not though it can be difficult to be sure of the limits. Language being a bit of a barrier, they sat tight and hoped. The policeman went back to his car, and produced a camera. He proceeded to take shots of the front, including the number plate. 'Now we're for it' ran through Howard and Ann's minds. But it got worse: he returned to his car, put camera away, and came back with a video recorder. But then he asked them to smile, to put on their Inca Trail hats. They brought out the event programme, and he filmed the back cover showing the route. Conclusion: he poor chap was having a boring day, and the Inca Trail brought some light relief and something to tell his family and mates when he got home ...
Results roundup
After the first four days, the results table is beginning to take shape. Amazingly, though he had no steering by the end of Day 3, Alastair Caldwell is still on Gold: he managed to rig up a repair overnight until a replacement box can be flown out. The Escort's half shaft cost John Bateson/Colin Francis their Gold: though they went down by just a one minute margin. The Escort's limited slip diff meant they could keep going to the end of the section, but precious time was lost.
Richard Newman / Robert O'Hara are holding on to the one remaining Gold medal among the Category A cars, while the two Austin A90s of Blanckley / Davies / Humphreys and Shoosmith / Scott Plummer are having a right royal battle and still on for Gold. Paul and Mary Kane are showing the Mustang contingent how it should be done: they have an incredible 3.3 penalties to their name at present, the lowest of the event. In Class C2 David Reville / Anthony Ward are bidding to follow up Anthony's wife's performance on last month's Classic Malts. And Rita Shelley / Mike Knox are having an excellent time in the MGC, with just 9.5 penalties against Reville / Ward's 9.6.
Others still on Gold are Rietbergen / Rietbergen (Volvo PV544), Wignall / Wignall (ditto), Garrett / Humphrey (Mercedes 250SE), Liddell / I'Anson (Ford Escort RS1600) and Merryweather / Deacon (Mercedes 250SL). But there's a long, long way still to go, and even those who have already lost medals could find they climb back up again if all others in their Age Category lose theirs. Then, if they're the lowest on points, Gold will be theirs again. So there's still all to play for ...
Tomorrow will be a more straightforward day, with a circuit lap test at nearby Londrina Race Circuit and then a fast straight drive to one of South America's most impressive sights - the waterfalls of Foz do Iguazu.