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| Rimini and Ferrera | Posted on 03/11/2003 at 17:59 GMT |
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Well, the astoundishment (don't bother looking it up, I just invented that word) of our league place in the rally continues today. After yesterday's brake failure and subsequent missed stage we were relegated to 74th position in the rally (yes, we missed an entire stage and still managed to not be in last place!), today went quite well. With a brand new pair of brakes and our tuned engine Gina managed to post a quite incredible 41st position! That's despite us getting completely lost with the Alfa Romeo guys and only managing to reach Ferrera with 2 minutes to spare on the clock! After we reached Rimini yesterday and finished the rally we were given the afternoon to ourselves. Having fairly quickly established that Rimini is Italy's Blackpool, we retreated to the stunning skycity of San Marino. Terrifyingly high up in the sky, the city was a harsh climb for Gina - but it was the return journey back down that scared us the most. Our brakes had glazed over from the overheating earlier that day - and so weren't performing very well at all. Luckily we managed to climb back down without overheating them too badly using a combination of engine braking and intermittant gentle brake presses. Phew! Today was a long day, a total of around 140 miles through the fog-strewn vineyards around the ancient walled city of Ferrera. We got lost about 6 or 7 times - but each time the locals were only too pleased to help us refind our way, despite the obvious language barrier. Its funny, whenever Gina breaks down or we find ourselves utterly in the middle of nowhere - old Italian men will appear out of nowhere to mutter incomprehensibly and nod appreciatively at the car. Add to the fact that the Alfa Romeo is something of a national hero here makes the 2 teams quite noticeable as we charge (ha! yea right) through the italian countryside. We still have a heating problem - our heater works intermittantly at best - but at least the newly tuned engine is about 600% more efficient and keeps its heat down enough to be getting on with for now. We've pretty much tracked down the heater problem to a dicky valve - so Mark's gone down to the garage tonight to have a look at it and discuss it with the engineers. I'll be doing a mega update of pictures sometime later tonight - we've taken nearly 300 already - so it'll take time for me to sort through them. |
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| posted by Wild | |
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Add New Comment? |
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| Comment by Anne T | Posted on 03/11/2003 at 20:10 GMT |
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I cannot believe that you are still in the rally - it makes one wonder just what condition the other cars are in!!! or is it all down to skill on the drivers part and brawn from Gina. Pictures so far are fantastic, look forward to the next 300. LOL |
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| Comment by Iain | Posted on 03/11/2003 at 20:12 GMT |
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Stupid bloody name for a car, if you ask me. That's bound to be the root cause of half your problems. Good to hear you actually made it to Italy. I was very doubtful you'd manage to get there, but, well done. I liked the way you had the slow shutter speed on the race photos Rich. Makes it look as though Mark's gunning it, big style. Anyway, I hope the car holds together, and that the weather improves a bit. Enjoy the rest of the race, all the best, Iain. |
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| Comment by Cory | Posted on 04/11/2003 at 01:59 GMT |
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this is just begging for a made for tv movie "watch as our heroes evade french security, narrowly survive a downhill trek with no brakes, and spread tacks across the street to hinder the competition long enough to finish victorious!" |
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| Comment by Reg | Posted on 04/11/2003 at 09:56 GMT |
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I was going to say - I hope you're taking pictures, but 300 odd sounds as if you are. When can we buy tickets for the slide show? |
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| Comment by simon | Posted on 04/11/2003 at 10:11 GMT |
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Well, well sounds like you are not short of aventure. Have you tried feeding Gina a bit of Martini or Campari to make her feel like a true chic Italian lady? Maybe that way she will run a little smoother! Abis is keeping me up to date. Keep at it. Regards, Simon |
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