Midnight
Sun to Red Sea Rally
19th June 2002
Day 17 -
Amman
to Petra (Jordan)
A
DAY OF GOATS, CAMELS AND GETTING LOST
Two Regularities in the desert, short but
demanding and tough. Then a run along the famous Kings Highway
over the roof of Jordan stunning views as the road wanders
and weaves through tiny mountain towns and villages. Not a
long day so we get in early and catch the famous rose red
sunset from the balcony of our hotel overlooking the jagged
mountain range and strange spooky rock formations which start
right in the grounds of the hotel.
Today’s two traditional desert
stages saw event leader Joe McAndrew on the charge making
up time he lost in yesterday’s penalties. He blitzed the first
stage by 24 second from an on form Peter Hall in his lime
green Escort.
In the second stage he was fastest again with Keith Callinan
in the awesome sounding V8 Monaro shattering the desert silence
27 seconds in arrears.
The great thing about the desert is there are no trees to
hit and no banks to slide down. But crests, undulations and
wind erosions are traps for the unwary. But today there were
other things that caught out desert virgins.
Andy Pidden in his Cortina, fed up with his car filling up
with rainwater in Poland, had removed the rubber grommets
in the floor to let the water drain out. And forgotten to
replace them! “Within 500 metres the car was full of talcum-like
dust and Mike Cotter couldn’t see to read the Road Book. It
was a bit spooky, driving blind until we opened the windows
the let the dust storm out,” said Pidden looking for all the
world like General Rommel, the Desert Fox.
Peter Hall, in his Escort, had a huge incident crossing a
railway line just before the finish line. He took off and
then nose dived which removed the front bumper and deranged
the steering eventually crossing the line in a cloud of dust
to post second fastest time over the stage. It was a real
Indiana Jones style finish. Co-driver Mary needed some deep
heat liniment and a hot bath. The car needs some serious spanner
work.
Tom Ryan in his Proton was making good time along the stage
until a herdsman in a pick-up with goats in the back decided
to appear from nowhere and joined rally route. “He had no
idea that today this was a stage and he didn’t know I was
behind him. Luckily it was only a few hundred metres to the
finish so we didn’t lose more than a few seconds,” said a
bemused Tom.
It’s unlikely that any of his London motor club mates will
be able to better that for a ‘why I dropped five seconds on
a stage’ excuse.
Nick Starkey in his Astra, probably the only competitor with
desert stage experience – he ran in the Middle East Championship
some years ago – was ironically the only driver to get lost
on the stage. He managed to wrong slot and came out ahead
of the car that started in front of him without passing him
gaining several minutes in the process! For this indiscretion
he collected the stage maximum as a penalty.
Lennox McNeeley in the Canadian Mustang with his alternator
rebuilt and repaired by a local enthusiast appeared at the
stage having mislaid his instructions. Officials gave him
a revised start time after the tiny Toyota Prius Hybrid, part
petrol power - part electric. “It gave Michael Greenwood something
to aim at up ahead and we were able to follow his dust cloud.”
Tomorrow competitors tackle the famous tarmac hill climb out
of the city of Petra, famous because the late King Hussein
of Jordan once held the record over it.
Then comes the daunting 20 km Canyon stage before they spend
the night, Bedouin-style enjoying traditional food, music
and sleeping under canvas in the eerie silence of Lawrence
of Arabia’s desert hideaway at Wadi Rum. more...
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