RtG Ypres-Istanbul Daily Dispatch - complete - web - Flipbook - Page 2
13 June to 3 July 2022
Pre start & scrutineering
Ypres town centre
13 June 2022
improve upon decades of British Leyland’s engineering.
Philip and Lyndy Blunden’s MGB GT needed a bit more
attention though and it saw Andy Inskip deep inside the
ignition system for most of the afternoon.
Once documented and accounted for the cars were taken
to a reserved section of the medieval town square in front
of the cloth hall to rest for the night and give some of the
thousands of visitors who pass through every year a chance
to enjoy the spectacle.
There are some great cars with us for this trip and ranging
from the sublime to the, possibly, less sublime; a vintage
selection of WO Bentleys, a stable of thoroughbred Porsche
911s and range of Mercedes-Benz classics. The 602cc Citroen
2CV however must surely be the star of this particular show
and its Australian crew, Phil and Laurette Macwhirter, are
keen to show what this, largely original, 1982 007 Special
can do. They’ve “spent a day and a quarter preparing the
car”. As well as checking that the tow ball fittings are good
and tight, they have given it new tyres at each corner, along
with two in the boot and replaced all four shock absorbers.
After four years in a barn in the south of France these
particular deux chevaux must surely be champing at the bit.
Thanks to ‘the pandemic’, this is the longest RtG event so far
www.rallytheglobe.com
Text & photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
We’re in Ypres, a Belgian city with an illustrious and
sometimes tragic past. Famous for being a cultural and
economic hub, as well as the scene of some intense fighting
during the First World War, and now the home to the
impressive yet sobering Menin Gate Memorial.
Today 26 rally crews descended on the town to begin their
rally to the Edge of the Orient but, before they could hit
the road there were certain formalities to undergo. These
included signing-on and scrutineering, where paperwork
and rally gifts were distributed, and the cars were checked
for both safety and compliance. In the calm of the courtyard
of the Yperley restaurant, Loren Price, Gill Cotton and Sarah
Ormerod dealt with the former whilst, only a short drive
away and alongside the moat behind the Menin Gate itself,
Andy Inskip, Jack Amies, Charlie Neale and Russ Smith
stood ready with their clipboards and toolkits to give the
cars a thorough going over and to right any wrongs which
may have developed on the journey here.
Graham and Marina Goodwin’s Bentley, for example,
needed a bit of soldering to bring a faulty rear light back
to life. Michael Kershaw’s Range Rover inexplicably shed a
wing mirror. As it was waiting in line it gave Charlie Neale
all the excuse he needed to whip out his drill and quickly
Design: K-Design
Since the chequered flag was stowed safely in Santander last month, Rally the Globe (RtG) has moved on,
swapping the sweet tang of sangria for the more earthy tones of Belgian beer, the clacking castanets of
Castille for the folksy Flandrian fiddle and the crazy cacophony of Plastic Bertrand.