RTG Carrera Italia Daily Dispatch - All days - low res - Flipbook - Page 23
Day 9: Il Borro to Santa Margherita Ligure, 11 October 2021
Manuel and Irene Dubs, 1965 Ford Mustang V8 Convertible
to the lunch halt which was sandwiched between two
Tests run through the grounds of the lofty Renaissance
Tuscany hotel in the hills overlooking Lucca. Il Ciocco 1
and Il Ciocco 2 gave the cars and their crews a thorough
workout over more than 6km of closed road hill climbs.
With a squad of local marshals keeping watch and the sun
beating down through the trees, this was surely a midday
session to savour.
Once they’d finished the second of these Tests and their
engines had cooled a little, the cars were then sent down
the road to the last Regularity of the day. A section taking
them through the beautiful countryside around Vibbiana.
And here it was good to see the 48hr car back with us. Dick
Appleton and Paul Heal were today tasked with manning
a timing point instead of looking for workarounds and
solutions to the problems so often thrown up by roadworks
and any manner of local difficulties.
From Vibbiana some of the route into Santa Margherita
was straight down the autostrada, which afforded most of
us an easy and quick passage to the hotel. But, for Ean &
Alison Lewin things weren’t so simple as their Escort was
playing up. John and Gill Cotton stopped to lend a hand, it
was, in Gill’s words “sounding a bit ‘ruff”. Fortunately the
sweep crew of Jack Amies and Russ Smith were quickly
on site and diagnosed a faulty alternator, easily replaced
once they reached the night halt. So, one borrowed battery
and a set of jump leads later, they were rolling again and
arrived at the Grand Hotel Miramare just before the sun
bid us farewell.
Unbelievably tomorrow is the last day of the Carrera
Italia and we’re hoping to welcome a special guest to the
finish line.
Gerardus Mercator, Dispatch reporter
Mick and Grace de Haas, 1966 Mercedes-Benz 280 SL
Dieter and Hildegard Baumhaeckel, 1961 Volvo PV544
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Keith and Norah Ashworth, 1927 Bentley 4½ Le Mans
www.rallytheglobe.com