RTG Espana Daily Dispatch - mid-res - Flipbook - Page 3
Pre start & scrutineering: Barcelona, 24 April 2022
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
was the place to be. Here, with a spectacular backdrop of
views down to the marina, the port and the Mediterranean
beyond, the Rally the Globe team worked to welcome the
crews as they, and their cars, pulled in to begin the event.
There’s a two part glue which holds any rally together,
the 3M of the medics, mechanics and marshals and whilst
one component of this was busy in the car park with
scrutineering and compliance checks, the second part was
equally busy with paperwork and documentation. The
sweep teams of Andy Inskip, Jack Amies, Charlie Neale
and Russ Smith were on hand with their spanners and
checklists whilst Loren Price, Gill Cotton and Audrey Rudd
ensured that everything else was correct.
Once they’d got their affairs in order the crews were able
to enjoy some of the sights of Montjuic or lunch above the
terraced gardens. A short drivers briefing in the afternoon
gave Fred and Mark the chance to formally welcome
everyone and to note something of a landmark in that this
was actually the tenth Rally the Globe event.
Fred went on to say that he was “excited to be returning
to where it all began for Rally the Globe with our first event,
the inaugural Carrera Iberia in 2019. Nearly three years
later, we are back to enjoy the spectacular roads, stunning
vistas and culinary delights of northern Spain. You can see
that the atmosphere among the competitors is great and
the crews know they’re in for a real treat”.
Mark Appleton, the Clerk of the Course, was also looking
forward to getting back on the road after an enforced Covid
absence during the Generations Rally “I can promise you’ll
enjoy a selection of the Spanish road network’s greatest
hits and will be challenged on a choice series of Tests and
Regularities sprinkled throughout.”
With the briefing over the rest of the afternoon was free
for some last minute tinkering and fettling before drinks
and dinner and no doubt an early night, perhaps with some
road book studying before lights out.
Worth Birkill and Dick Appleton missed all of this
excitement, as the occupants of the 48 hour car they were
already ploughing their lonely furrow across the campo
and sending back vital information about roadworks and
other nuisances along the route.
Gerardus Mercator, Dispatch reporter
www.rallytheglobe.com