Day 4

4. May 2000, Santa Margherita Ligure to Ancona

Our three-minute penalty yesterday gave us rank 25 overall (out of 70) and 1st out of our class Historic Saloon Around the World (8 cars) - Hurray while it lasts. We are the day winners in our class but the others probably caught up today.

On the way to today's test section, we lost our way due to new roads and a new roundabout. Unfortunately this cost us two minutes as we arrived late. The test section itself, the "Tuscan Hills" was a plain gravel road with nice bumps and going up and down. After we had landed our car several times on the ground we decided to take it a bit slower and lost one minute. We're still very happy with our results so far, being able to match the results of the more experienced drivers. The car was going fine all day and the car problems so far seem to be under control and we think we know the reasons for them now.

TC 18: Santa Margherita OUT
6:
 35  
TC 19: Gello
9:
 44 157.85 km
TC 20: Tuscan Hills 1
10:
 18 (2 minutes penalty) 27.35 km
TC 21: Tuscan Hills 2
10:
 35 (1 minute penalty) 11.05 km
PC: Radda in Chianti
   
TC 22: Serravalle di Carda
14:
 38 202.85 km
TC 23: Ancona
17:
 18 120.10

The official results can be looked up on this website

The whole route was dominated by hills, going up and down all the time. I had not expected so many mountain sections on this rally. Another thing I did not expect was the hurriedness and overall competitiveness of the rally. Most of the competitors were expecting long routes and at the end of the day we would see who arrives at the hotel. But the short fast sections actually make it more exciting for us. On the other hand we should be gentle to our car, still having most of the route before us, but the temptation to speed is big. We heard that yesterday, an Austin Healey came off the road on the test section of Todocco. Fortunately noone was seriously injured.
Overall, there is not much time to get out of the car but one can still appreciate the landscapes. Italy is a beautiful country though and I should come back to some of the regions we drove through again. A great loss is that we did not get many chances to eat Italian food other than sandwiches and one dinner - but that's life. We were happy to arrive in Ancona because the ferry means a forced rest for more than half of the day and at the market of Ancona we finally got to see some Italian people not sitting in cars or passing by fast.

We are on our way to Greece now.

With several decades of Autobahn experience, our father brings us fast down the Autostrada.

the famous leaning tower of Pisa

up and down all the time... we cleverly overtook all of these by navigator Kaya running out of the car, getting the stamp and running back into the car and driving off at passage check Radda.

The famous Chianti is grown here

Marketplace in Ancona

After four days of long fast driving, waiting for the ferry suddenly becomes an enjoyable pastime

Hmm...I think our screen is broken

It must have happened during some of the rough driving. The screen is literally broken, we hope that the situation does not worsen (no screen - no website) but we have already made backup plans. Computers aren't as easy to fix as cars so far, unfortunately.

  

...and we arrive one hour early at the timecheck of Gello.

the not so famous St. Gobain tower of Pisa

Tuscan Hills: Our test section of today is a gravel road that normally sees nothing but farming vehicles.

A competitor from Basle (close to our home village) driving his Willys which he keeps in perfect condition.

This Renault Fregate took a while to overtake on this up-hill section

Marketplace in Ancona

Everyone arrives in Ancona

If every hotel on the route would be as comfortable as this ferry, there should be no problem.