RTG Espana Daily Dispatch - mid-res - Flipbook - Page 8
24 April to 5 May 2022
Day 3
Sos del Rey Católico to Soria (385 km)
27 April 2022
This morning we travelled through Navarra, a medieval
Basque kingdom and important location of the Spanish wine
industry. We also passed through parts of our old stamping
ground, which we enjoyed so much during the 2019 Carrera
Iberia. From the Parador an excellent road shot the rally
straight to the first Passage Control in Olleta and, within
20km of leaving the hotel, we saw our first vineyards and
olive groves. By now it was raining heavily and, for those in the
vintage and open cars, any talk of the right tyre compounds
for the upcoming track Test gave way to discussion of the
right waterproof jacket for the journey there.
Despite, or perhaps thanks to, the conditions, the two
laps around the Circuit de Navarra proved to be great
sport, with everyone finding themselves scrabbling for grip
and slipping and sliding into and out of the corners whilst
a covered grandstand allowed the rest of the rally to watch
events unfold. From the track it was an easy run to the
first Regularity in Meano via a wide and open road below
the Balcon de la Rioja that wound its way through neatly
trimmed vineyards showing the first stirrings of the new
vintage from their old woody stumps.
It had been a fast and busy morning so the lunch Time
Control in the CVNE, the Compañía Vinícola del Norte
de España, proved to be a welcome sight and with the
cars parked up in the grand courtyard of the old winery.
The crews sat down to a hearty lunch and began to dry
themselves out before poking their noses into some of the
warehouses and taking a look around the visitor centre.
After such a pleasant intermission it was fitting that
the afternoon’s session began in a fairly leisurely manner,
with some fast A roads and an Autovia before we began a
slow climb towards the Reserva Nacional de Cameros for
the second Regularity around the village of Viniegra. The
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
We thought we’d left the rain behind in Italy after
last year’s Carrera, but we hadn’t. Today proved
that the rain in Spain certainly doesn’t stay mainly
on the plain, as the day dawned slightly cooler and a
little more damp than we’d become accustomed to.
A low mist hung in the stands of cypress trees and
wrapped itself around the old stone farm buildings
which dotted the wide flat plain below the hotel.
landscape here was markedly different from that we had
enjoyed this morning and, although the low cloud kept some
of the snowy peaks hidden from us, it was a magnificent
setting nonetheless. It was, however, raining heavily again
and, as the road rolled through the canyon alongside the
Rio Najerilla, the open car crews sat hunkered down behind
whatever protection they could get from their windscreens.
The third Regularity over the Puerto de Montenegro
came almost immediately after this riparian Regularity and
climbed out of the valley to a height of 1582m where the
wind was slightly more keen and the rain perhaps a little
wetter. It didn’t seem to dampen the crews enthusiasm
with perhaps the best quote of the day delivered by Barbara
Mahrenholz to Dr John Llewellyn and Bob Hargreaves atop
the Puerto “this one is going into the trousers!”.
The end of the day was drawing close and the night Halt
in Soria beckoned so, within the hour, thanks to another
fine piece of Spanish tarmac, everyone was safely parked
up in another excellent Parador. Thanks to a wine tasting
evening, the crews were finally able to enjoy some of the
stuff we’d been driving through for most of the day.
Gerardus Mercator, Dispatch reporter
www.rallytheglobe.com