The final day is split into two special stages, with a road liaison between. And whereas we have had generous limit times on the preceding days, the timings on Day 5 are tight because we have to get to the ceremonial finish to meet the TV schedule. The other problem is that the service point at SS5 finish is a huge distance away by tarmac, so we have planned an off-road route, which means we can’t take the 2WD pick-up. Instead, Gip will take Maurice in his FJ, and hope to get through in time, while Cesar loads up the pick-up and heads for SS6 finish.
SS5 starts with some nasty drops, one of which I manage to miscalculate, and we land hard. There’s no obvious damage, but shortly after the flexible inner wheel arch comes loose on the font right, and starts to flap around – the tyre must have touched it in our hard landing. I decide to ignore it, then seconds later the engine dies completely. No electrics – nothing. I leap out, look under the hood, nothing obviously wrong, the battery is still in place and connected. I’m in a state of panic, what the hell can be wrong? Suddenly I realize that the only thing that can kill the car this way is one of the three emergency cut-off switches - and the wheel arch liner has flapped around and hit the one on the right wing! I rip the liner off completely, re-set the switch, and sure enough the engine fires up – hurrah! I’ve lost 5 minutes, and that’s a lot on a short stage. We reach the finish without any further dramas, and Gip arrives as we’re airing up the tyres. Maurice only has time for a quick check before we’re off on the road stage to the start of SS6, which we make with only minutes to spare.
We’ve practiced SS6 a few times and feel confident that we know the route, and we make good time, continually dicing with Fadi in his gold coloured Range Rover. Finally we are into the last dune section, with many tricky low dunes, still on Fadi’s tail. We’re OK for time. Then – disaster! I high-centre the Patrol on the crest of a dune, a beginner’s error. Out with the sand ladders, do some digging – but two diagonal wheels are spinning. Out with the jack, I lift up the front right and now the rear left has some purchase on the MaxTrax. The two remaining MaxTrax go under the front right, back-to-back, lifting the wheel another 3” or so, and after dropping the wheel onto them they provide enough traction on that corner to get us moving. We have 12 minutes left on our 3-hour limit time to do 12km, but now we’re out of the dunes and into a stretch of awful tussocky dunes, littered with shrubs and impossible to drive fast. The car bangs and crashes around, we haven’t taken the time to secure the sand ladders and shovel, Sheila is shouting at me to slow down and I ignore her, the red mist is upon me and all I want to do is get to the finish within 3 hours. We emerge from the dunes and spot the line of red cones leading to a left turn between some bushes, which guides us into the finish. I slide through the turn, but it’s sharper than the drawing they gave us, and we’re outside the cones again as we exit, but now I can see the flags, I weave back onto the track and suddenly we’re there. But have we made it? HAVE WE MADE IT??
SS5 starts with some nasty drops, one of which I manage to miscalculate, and we land hard. There’s no obvious damage, but shortly after the flexible inner wheel arch comes loose on the font right, and starts to flap around – the tyre must have touched it in our hard landing. I decide to ignore it, then seconds later the engine dies completely. No electrics – nothing. I leap out, look under the hood, nothing obviously wrong, the battery is still in place and connected. I’m in a state of panic, what the hell can be wrong? Suddenly I realize that the only thing that can kill the car this way is one of the three emergency cut-off switches - and the wheel arch liner has flapped around and hit the one on the right wing! I rip the liner off completely, re-set the switch, and sure enough the engine fires up – hurrah! I’ve lost 5 minutes, and that’s a lot on a short stage. We reach the finish without any further dramas, and Gip arrives as we’re airing up the tyres. Maurice only has time for a quick check before we’re off on the road stage to the start of SS6, which we make with only minutes to spare.
We’ve practiced SS6 a few times and feel confident that we know the route, and we make good time, continually dicing with Fadi in his gold coloured Range Rover. Finally we are into the last dune section, with many tricky low dunes, still on Fadi’s tail. We’re OK for time. Then – disaster! I high-centre the Patrol on the crest of a dune, a beginner’s error. Out with the sand ladders, do some digging – but two diagonal wheels are spinning. Out with the jack, I lift up the front right and now the rear left has some purchase on the MaxTrax. The two remaining MaxTrax go under the front right, back-to-back, lifting the wheel another 3” or so, and after dropping the wheel onto them they provide enough traction on that corner to get us moving. We have 12 minutes left on our 3-hour limit time to do 12km, but now we’re out of the dunes and into a stretch of awful tussocky dunes, littered with shrubs and impossible to drive fast. The car bangs and crashes around, we haven’t taken the time to secure the sand ladders and shovel, Sheila is shouting at me to slow down and I ignore her, the red mist is upon me and all I want to do is get to the finish within 3 hours. We emerge from the dunes and spot the line of red cones leading to a left turn between some bushes, which guides us into the finish. I slide through the turn, but it’s sharper than the drawing they gave us, and we’re outside the cones again as we exit, but now I can see the flags, I weave back onto the track and suddenly we’re there. But have we made it? HAVE WE MADE IT??
The card is stamped, the finish time is recorded, but I can’t bear to look. Sheila tells me it says 2 hours 55 minutes – we’ve made it! I fall out of the car high on adrenaline and exhausted at the same time, people are congratulating us, everything becomes a blur. It’s over. After five days of excitement and disappointment, the highs and lows of rallying, it’s over. It's all over.
Later that evening, after the cermonial finish and the prize-giving dinner, we find that we are 14th overall.
Not bad for a first attempt by a bunch of amateurs!
