RTG1 - Flipbook - Page 1
Day 0: Aigen im Ennstal
Sunday 29th September 2024
The days are getting shorter, and the shadows are lengthening as we draw towards autumn, but there’s still some
endurance rallying fun to be had.
And, in the magnificent Schloss Pichlarn—beneath the massive bulk of Grimming, the highest freestanding mountain
in the Alps—we’ve assembled a stellar group of cars and crews above Aigen im Ennstal to begin a two-week Challenge
from the Austrian Alps to the Aegean and the ancient city of Athens.
This landmark rally is the 21st Rally the Globe event, and it truly marks our coming of age. It has been devised by
Anthony Preston, the deputy clerk of the course, who has set a demanding route covering 4,112km—liberally sprinkled
with gravel and tarmac rising from sea level to almost 2000m.
The associated 44 Regularities, 16 Tests, and 80 timing points (the most we’ve ever set) will give the Results Team something to work on and give the crews something to aim for every day.
There are 22 cars and crews with us, and Mercedes and Ford have fielded the biggest contingents, with five cars each
from the 1930s to the 1970s. But, as usual, all of the vehicles gathered for the start represent a fantastic snapshot of
transatlantic motoring history from pre-war Dearborn to Cold War Stuttgart.
