THE INCA TRAIL
the big South American adventure rally
Mustang heads for Timing Point |
Onwards and upwards |
Do and Ans Meeus's Jaguar leads the way up Cuesta del Portezuelo |
4x4 Audi in hot pursuit of classic Porsche |
Day 26: Catamarca - San Juan (752km)
Not quite a riot
By the end of today, the Inca Trail rally will have reached its half-way stage. And tomorrow, crews and cars can look forward to arriving for well-earned time off at the Chilean coastal resort of Marbella, before continuing the push south for Ushuaia and the literal turning-point of the rally at the southernmost tip of Argentina.
Today had a superb start, just 18km out of Catamarca: an ascent of the Cuesta del Portezuelo - run as a 50kph Regularity for the classics in Age Categories B,C and D, with three timing points. A full 17km of hairpins took crews up the escarpment from Catamarca's plain to the 1,680m plateau above. Many crews arrived early at the first Timing Point. 'But you won't be at the next!' pointed out Deputy Clerk of the Course Peter Rushforth as feet hit the floor to head on upwards. This road used to be gravel, and in the early 1980s was the first part of a CODASUR Rally special stage. Thrilling stuff. But you need a good head for heights if you want to look back at where you've come from - even now the road has been tamed a little. It was worth taking a peek, though - as dramatic a view as the ascent itself.
Then it was a 76km push across the high plateau, on a Medal and 4x4 Explorer Section, and eventually into dry scrubland. All the classics enjoyed a second Regularity along with a 4x4 Explorer section through the Sierra de Malanzan - and so to San Juan, our overnight halt.
Argentina's national economy is in dire straits at the moment. The finance minister resigned the day this rally reached Catamarca, and the country is desperate to renegotiate its debts with the IMF. In San Juan, municipal workers have not been paid for several weeks, and so it was judged diplomatic by the municipality to move today's finish control away from the centre, lest we (and they) were embarrassed by demonstrations or - worse - riots. But they made up for the move by providing one of the highest rally finish ramps we have ever seen: a good thing we're all accustomed to high altitudes by now.
A bit of a turn-off
Today turned out to be 'electrics day': Ted and Judy Howles started the trend in their Scimitar, stopping mid-Regularity, and earning maximum penalties while they sorted the problem. Later on, Malcolm McKay was to grind to a halt with a dead coil. He's become very attached to that coil: it was the original item, fitted in 1955 when the TR2 left the factory. But Malcolm had already tried almost everything else in the ignition system by the time he and Bill Price in the sweeper crew got it sussed - and just made it into the second Regularity of the day before the control closed.
Scorched Catts
The Catts, meanwhile, didn't make the second Regularity at all. They had a small fire under the dashboard, caused by the fuel pump coming adrift and shorting out. It could have been nasty: fuell out of one end, sparks from the other. But they got to it in time. Smoking dashboard extinguished, they changed the fuel pump.. All was fine, but then to finish the day, the gearbox started losing oil - and as fast as John poured more in, it landed on the ground. They'll be spending at least part of Day 27 in a San Juan workshop getting it mended. See you soon, Cattpeople.