Day 10 the long drive south in Saudi

Well as predicted we are no longer at the head of the field. The sand in Egypt was our down fall. The section started well with us set off at a good speed then we enter the valley of death and very soon became stuck. Andy Actman eventually came along and gave us a quick tow and we were on our way. This did not last long and we were soon stuck again this time for almost 2 hours along with almost all the other 2 wheel drive cars. In the end we all help each other working on one car at a time slowly moving them on to hard ground before heading out in convoy. Then the organisers had the head ache of working out how to give out penalties. The up shot of this was we ended up with 40 minutes added to our total. The section should never had been run.
The night was spent crossing the Red sea to Saudi followed by a very long drive south 500km to our over night hotel. Free Wifi so I'm a little happier. Tomorrow is another long drive before crossing back across the red sea to Sudan. There will be no more competitive driving until we reach Ethiopia.

The 3 cars in front will need to keep an eye on the mirrors as Owens going to catch you Owens going to catch you Owens going to catch you.

Long long way still to go and we are not giving up without a fight.

Day 8 Africa at last.

Well having spent a day and two nights bobbing up and down on the Med we are finally in north Africa well Egypt to be more precise. We were fed and watered well on the crossing although Owen waisted much of it down the side of the ship. We arrived off the coast of Alexander around 5am and the pilot finally arrived on board at 9. We then spent the next five hours sorting out all the paper work before being sent out on to the roads of Egypt.

The next four hours were like something out of a Top Gear challenge. Over loaded lorries, mad taxi drivers, horse and carts, Cars coming the wrong way not to mention a very unhappy camel well he looked to have the hump to me and this was meant to be a motorway!! It was by far the most frightening part of the rally so far in fact maybe of our lives. But you could not help but laugh.

Back to competitive driving tomorrow with 3 timed sections on the shores of the Red sea. Think this could be when we finally slip from the top spot. But we have held the lead for 8 days and already won 2 trophies The Kent cup and the Europe cup have gained the lowest penalty on both those legs.

No question cards today although Anton's question 3 has now been talked about by most the entrants on the event and still we cannot come up with the definitive answer.

More tomorrow.

Day 6 Rain, Fog and Mud.

Well here we are on the ferry leaving Europe behind and still holding the lead but have only added another 6 secs to our lead today. The day has been spend in heavy rain and fog or maybe low cloud on high ground. It almost went all wrong on the first section when we got stuck on a very muddy stretch losing around 30 secs. The next section was narrow tarmac with hairpin after hairpin climbing up the mountain side the poor MG struggle up here but we were pleased to only drop 6 seconds. In a later section we almost came to grief on a muddy bit in the olive trees but Owens untold skill saved use or was it just luck we will never know. On the longest section of the day we had a real good go and the fog had come down. Owen pushed on listening to my road calling in the belief I could see more than him. Silly Boy.

We have a day on the ferry tomorrow all very strange as it is only the rally on the ferry with free food and free bar!! But another 3 euros for the Wifi. We do not do any more competitive motoring until Monday when it's off into the sand and goodbye to the rally lead. But also say goodbye to the rain.

Question cards are cards the people I work with have done for the boring moments. Three question on serious one funny and one naughty.
Today it was the turn of Paul Batmans.
1. Put it to the vote and let the people decide.
2. It would have to be no unless she was very very nice.
3. I'd stick to English no good with languages.

A little late but happy birthday to my big sister on the 3rd. Hope you got the card.

We're running out of under pants so may do some washing on board.

By the way our GPS tracker is not working.
Will try and post some pictures tomorrow.

Day 5 Rain, Snow, wrong slots and car ramps.

Did not have time to post last night we were busy working on the Vesty car after their coming together the day before with an Italian round about. Had much difficult try to straighten the sump guard. we found a work shop near the hotel and ended up using there car ramp to try and straighten it. This has the result of breaking the ramp with our car stuck on it up in the air. In trying to help fix the ramp I fell of a ladder!!.

Any back to the rallying. Not a great day on my park a small wrong turn on the first section cost us 20 sec. Then the second section a much bigger wrong turn cost us over 2 minutes. The only plus we were not the only ones. We still hold the lead although the gap to second has shrunk.

We used Rupert's (Postie) question card yesterday.
1. Yes in the long run it will be.
2. Yes they should but only people who live in non mobile homes and pay taxes car do it.
3. You are sexual deviant.

Long day to 6 timed sections.

Day 4 on the high seas.

Yes here we are in the middle of the Med and I've found some Wifi. Cost me 3 Euro so anyone reading this consider this as me buying you a drink.

One timed section today up in the hills on gravel tracks which without warning would turn to very slippery mud. We lost out here to the more powerful cars on the long climb to the top. Owen started to fly on the decent but after a couple of moments on the mud decided the risks were to high so took it steady to the finish. We still posted the 3rd fastest time and took time out of the cars close to us in the overall results.

So tomorrow in Greece we still lead the field away for 2 timed section and 2 river crossings!!

Did not use a question card today but will be back onto them tomorrow. Anton's question No.3 did come up a few times and we have sort the opinions of some of the other crews on the topic.

Owen has promised he with change his shirt in the morning!

Tune in tomorrow for more updates.

Day 3 in to Italy.

Well we have made it to Firenze and it seems we have extend our lead being the only crew to clean the very very twisty world cup section. The section was 50Km in the Ligurian hills with hairpin after hairpin and despite the steep climbs the MG showed everyone the way.

Most of the day was spent heading south down the Auto routes and though the Alps via the Frejus tunnel and we even found a little snow.

To day we used our first question card and it was the Turn of Anton White. And our answers were as follows.
1.Yes if it is of an important event or person that made a major impact on our counties history or a out standing achievement.
2. Because you think she could teach you something new.
3. This question is very complex and will be revisted though out the event.

Sadly to protect the Innocent we cannot reveal any of the questions.

Well off to bed as and early start tomorrow 5am!! Tomorrow night we will be on the ferry to Greece so will not be any updates sadly. Hopefully Owen will use a clean tee shirt tomorrow!!

Leg one over!!

Greetings ever one well we have finally arrived in Beaune after a very long 24 hours. We are pleased to find that we are in the lead but I'm more excited by the free Wifi in the hotel I do hate spending money.

The night in Kent went well for use with some quick times on the test and a very clean run though the navigation section. Seems I can still read a map after all (well currently). Had a small worry when the rear suspension started making nasty noises and we thought a shocker had gone. At Dover Owen jumper under the car to have a closer look and disscover the rear beam mounts had worked loose as a result of freshly painted stone chip.

Only been one timed section in France today which seemed to go well caught 3 cars. Rover now all checked over and washed ready for the morning when after the reseed we will lead the field away. But don't go getting to excited back home there is a very long way to go and once in Africa we expect to slowly start slipping down the order.