Saturday 15 February 2020

Day 1 under our belts

Ceremonial start in Auckland
First rally day done; and despite breakdowns mechanical and digitial, we are not yet last. Each day includes several Regularities, being the main competitive sections of the rally which require a gravel stage of forty or more fast paced kilometres to be driven under to-the-second average speeds. On our third Reg today Daphne burst a radiator hose, fortunately almost under the noses of the sweep mechanics so fixed within 15 mins but inevitably incurring max time penalty for the section. Joe90’s crew meanwhile had a stopwatch glitch that threw a spanner into their otherwise respectable timings. At last Daphne flounced into the overnight stop in a hot flush, her dad resorting to a beefier rad fan fuse to restore thermal equilibrium. But both cars grateful for a quenching drink of 95 octane petrol, having been subsisting unhappily on 91 grade most of the day. A convivial evening at a marina-side restaurant in Whangarai ended day one.

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