RtG Ypres-Istanbul Daily Dispatch - complete - web - Flipbook - Page 36
Day 17: Plovdiv to Plovdiv, 30 June 2022
Bertie and Charlotte van Houtte, 1965 Porsche 911
Time Control. Richard and Catherine Phillipson are also
back with us, complete with a new gearbox bolted into
their Alvis and are looking forward to getting stuck into
the rest of the rally.
The drama out on the road began with the first Test at
Peshtera, where Damian and Victor had laid out a closed
road hill climb. Dozens of local marshals and police were
on hand to make sure the event ran safely. From here the
first Regularity, Sveti Konstantin, was but a stone’s throw
away. This much slower, but no less intense section, took the
rally around the far south end of the Batak Reservoir, in the
Rhodope Mountains. The scenery was stunning, the very best
of rural Bulgaria, and led us to coffee at the Time Control in
Velingrad, the self-proclaimed Spa Capital of the Balkans.
There was little time for any pampering as we still had
the second Regularity to deal with, Damian’s Highway,
named after our Bulgarian rally friend. Running along a
freshly surfaced road and topping out at 1,450m it gave us
some amazing views over to the Alabak Ridge, before we
returned to Velingrad for lunch and another Time Control.
There was then only one more timed section to deal
with, the Regularity from Dorkovo, which ran through a
steep ravine of the river Matnitsa before crossing the dam
at the head of the Batak Reservoir. The day’s MTC was at
the bottom of the hill we climbed this morning in Peshtera.
Once we’d handed over our timecards, we were treated to
a tour of the fascinating Communistic Retro Museum filled
with cars and domestic ephemera of the soviet era.
The drive back to Plovdiv was a leisurely affair and both
the pool and the bar were popular pre-dinner hangouts.
As the sun dipped, the day ended with a car park party
courtesy of the sweep team. Amongst the talk of suspension,
drivetrains and horsepower, there was some time for the
crews to swap tales from the journey we’ve shared so far.
Renate Hanselmann and Lukas Ospelt, 1939 Ford Model 91A
www.rallytheglobe.com
Text & photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Design: K-Design
Steve and Jenny Verrall, 1965 Porsche 911