Time: 08:00 - 17:00
Distance: 286 miles
Rally Position: 2nd from 41 (2nd in class)
Matrouth, Egypt - Cairo, Egypt
What’s that knocking noise?
We left our hotel at 08:09am and headed some 100kms to the start of the first timed stage. The stage was 14kms long and was a mix of very hard rutted baked mud and sharp loose gravel.
Our arrival timings put the Datsun 240Z at the front and this was followed by the Holden. Immediately behind us was the Morris 1800 Land Crab, so it was a real re-run of the 1968 London to Sydney marathon with all three cars being of the era.
The stage ran alongside a railway line and then dived off into open countryside. For this stage we were told the rely on the GPS rather than the route notes (tulip notes). Unfortunately Ces was a bit flustered as we approached the start due to a last minute route change and we took off from the line using the wrong notes. Needless to say the navigation soon became a nightmare and we went way off route, nearly getting ourselves stuck in some very soft sand. It was at this point that we were overtaken by the Morris 1800 and we knew all was not looking good for our overall or class position.
The upside of being overtaken was that we could follow the Morris in and record a time one minute slower than them.
As you can see with this pic, once you go off route, things all look very much the same.
After the stage there were some fairly strong exchanges of views within the car, but it was agreed the tulip notes were wrong. That was of course why we’d been told to use the GPS!
From the stage we made our way in silence to the museum at El Alamein and took time to let the car and occupants cool down….
After lunch we had another extended drive to the second stage of the day. This was a 4km blast in soft sand totally based on the tulip notes.. On route to the stage I heard some serious knocking from within the gearbox tunnel and Ces said “what’s that knocking noise?”…. It was too late to check and so we entered the stage. To say we were keen to push this and recover our dreadful morning session was an understatement.
The stage was short with numerous twists and included a full-blown, jump over hill-crest….. We flew the course and ripped through the sand. All the time the knocking got louder, so I drove faster the mask it.
After the stage I checked underneath the car and all looked good. It was only once I opened the bonnet and looked in more detail I found the cause…. We’d broken and engine mounting and drove the second stage like it! For those not mechanically minded, it holds the engine in the car!?!?! We nursed the car the remaining 100kms or so and into Cairo. Luckily Thursday was a rest day, so we had sometime to effect and repair or bodge!
The driving in Egypt is generally bad, i.e. driving the wrong way down a dual-carriageway is acceptable. But in Cairo it is taken to a new level…. So after a sweaty and stress filled journey, we arrived at our hotel right by the pyramids. This is the view from our balcony!
Colin was abandoned in the car park for the night and we experienced a real 5 star hotel…
Howard (you work with Ces) this pic is for you!
Tomorrow we’ll fix the car….
Todays car summary:
Faults: Rev counter & speedo
Issues: Broken engine mounting.
Engine rattling like hell, we need to wear ear-plugs!
Colin score 7/10
Tuesday 3rd February 2009
Time: 08:00 - 17:00
Distance: 247 miles
Rally Position: 2nd from 41 (2nd in class)
Tobruk, Libya - Matrouth, Egypt
It’s very nice, the people are very nice and I like it…..
We had our final night’s dinner in Libya and whilst the restaurant was clean and tidy,
The hotel was something else….. It was brand new, but was in fact apartments presented as hotel accommodation. Each apartment had three bedrooms and two toilets, plus a kitchen and sitting room area. What it did not have was curtains or any hot water! The beds were comfy but the packs of wild dogs that roamed the streets outside and fought for territory all night were not….. Oh for the use of a gun!
We woke-up bright and early and had breakfast and then headed for Egypt……
We arrived at the border at around 10:00am and expected a long wait, instead the Libyans couldn’t wait to get rid of us and it was with a sad farewell that we waived goodbye to the secret policeman and the unbelievable amounts of rubbish that is to be found in Libya…..
We drove 100 yards and were met with “Welcome to Egypt” from the customs officer, which is an improvement from UK customs…. However thereafter, we waited….
And waited (I’ve got man boobs?)
And then Colin swapped his Libyan plates for Egyptian….
After 4 hours, we were able to leave and we followed Nigel and Paula in the apparently unstoppable Datsun 240Z
The driving in Libya had been bad, but in Egypt it appeared that stacking was the problem…
Once in Egypt proper, we met with the local car club and had a welcome beer on the beach….. think about a film called “Ice Cold in Alex” it was the best beer I’ve ever had.
Tonight, we’ve given Colin the once over and courtesy of FEDEX the replacement temperature sensor has arrived and been fitted, plus we also have some extra spares (just in case). Tomorrow tests begin, i.e.
Stage 1 is 14kms (rough gravel)
Stage 2 is 4kms (soft sand)
These stages are building to some later in the week that are 70 and 84, so fingers crossed….
We’re 11 minutes behind the leader, but a lot can still change….
Todays car summary:
Faults: Rev counter & speedo
Issues: Knocking from rear damper on nearside (spanner fix).
Engine rattling like hell, we need to wear ear-plugs!
Colin score 9/10
Monday 2nd February 2009
Time: 10:00 - 15:30
Distance: 187 miles
Rally Position: 2nd from 41 (2nd in class)
Apolonia, Libya - Tobruk, Libya
Some corner of a foreign field…
Today we were able to visit another historic monument even before we’d started the car. The ruins of an ancient Greek and then Roman port were located literally on the doorstep of the hotel.
And on this occasion it all looked original without any evidence of re-pointing in sight!
Once in the car and whilst waiting for my route and time card for the day, I looked back through the earlier photo’s of Colin and noticed how the interior had changed….
It looks as though we’ll be bringing some of the desert home with us!
The run today took us along the coast road and into the town of Tobruk. My great uncle had served with the 8th Army during the second world war and spent some time in Tobruk, so I was keen to follow in family footsteps. The first port of call was the Knightsbridge Cemetery, which was a fairly miserable experience but at least for one day the men who were laid to rest there had some visitors from home, although the huge amount of Kiwi’s, Oz and SA’s are not so lucky, but to them we also pay our respects.
After the cemetery visit we continued into Tobruk town centre and made our way to the hotel. It was only when we tried to check in that we were told that we’d been moved to a sister hotel. Now being in a strange town, with no mobile phone, no understanding of Arabic seemed a pretty unsuitable way of starting a trek alone to the next venue. The answer? The local police said they would escort me… fair enough, except he meant escort as in police escort, with blue lights and siren…!
The hotel, was in fact some apartments that were half finished. This meant that we had no curtains and more importantly heating. Not a problem during the day when it was 25 but at night… wow!
Tomorrow we have an early start and head for Egypt….. Hooray!
Todays car summary:
Faults: Rev counter, speedo, temp sensor.
Issues: The handbrake has failed, we need to inspect rear shoes.
Engine rattling like hell, we need to wear ear-plugs!
Colin score 9/10
Sunday 1st February 2009
Time: 10:00 - 15:30
Distance: 182 miles
Rally Position: 2nd from 41 (2nd in class)
Benghazi, Libya - Apolonia, Libya
Some Roman ruins.
Today was yet another transit day and the organisers had scheduled in some stops to break-up the route.
The roads out of Benghazi were a lot quieter than we’d been used to and the views a lot more spectacular.
We passed a number of caves where apparently the ‘freedom fighters’ had lived during the fight for independence from Italy.
We also visited some Roman ruins that turned out to be a World Heritage site! I am not known for my love of culture, so the visit here lasted around 30 mins, but for those of you who do, here’s some pics….
Tomorrow we head for Tobruk and we intend to visit some of the Commonwealth War Graves whilst in the area. I am fairly confident that the boys who fell there don’t get many visitors, so we’ll be dropping in on them.
The general mood on the rally is that we could have pushed on yesterday and been in Tobruk today and Egypt tomorrow, but we suspect there were terms and conditions with our visas to pass through Libya, so at the moment it feels like were dragging our heels a little.
The car performed well today but is suffering from the poor fuel quality and pinking merrily away on all the hill sections and under hard acceleration. For once I can see the benefit of 99 Octane and Shell Optimax!
Todays car summary:
Faults: Rev counter, speedo, temp sensor.
Issues: Horn & lights fixed (fuse).
The handbrake has failed, we need to inspect rear shoes.
Engine rattling like hell, we need to wear ear-plugs!
Colin score 9/10
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