More of the same I'm afraid. Sheikh of UAQ turned up by helicopter at 1.45pm, so then we could sit down to lunch and the event kicked off at 3.00pm. Seems there are more competitors each time we race, so each lap takes longer.
This time the 4x4s went first onto a track now further extended to some 16+km, and I screwed up. Got a bit airborne on the early bumpy bits, came down on one wheel and popped a tyre off the bead. Which wouldn't have been so bad, had I not (as usual) dumped the spare wheel, jack and rattle gun back at service. Fortunately Streaky came to the rescue, after some (ahem!) words with the marshals who weren't too happy about it. I don't know what my lap time was, but noticed that the finish marshal had abandoned his stopwatch and picked up a calendar.
The second run was better, even though I was encumbered by a spare wheel, jack and rattle gun (20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing). I managed to catch up the Rangie who started 2 mins ahead of me, but the local lady driverette was kind enough to let me past when she could, bless her, so I didn't lose too much time. The final lap was done by braille, with headlights on as night fell, again not too shabby (I think).
But it's the cumulative time which counts, so no silverware for me. I hung around in the hope that they might be able to calculate the results, but clearly their abacus was on the fritz. By 8.30 I was bored, hungry and cold, so I gave it the elbow and headed back home.
Anyway, nothing important fell off or broke, so that's a Good Thing, reliability-wise.
This time the 4x4s went first onto a track now further extended to some 16+km, and I screwed up. Got a bit airborne on the early bumpy bits, came down on one wheel and popped a tyre off the bead. Which wouldn't have been so bad, had I not (as usual) dumped the spare wheel, jack and rattle gun back at service. Fortunately Streaky came to the rescue, after some (ahem!) words with the marshals who weren't too happy about it. I don't know what my lap time was, but noticed that the finish marshal had abandoned his stopwatch and picked up a calendar.
The second run was better, even though I was encumbered by a spare wheel, jack and rattle gun (20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing). I managed to catch up the Rangie who started 2 mins ahead of me, but the local lady driverette was kind enough to let me past when she could, bless her, so I didn't lose too much time. The final lap was done by braille, with headlights on as night fell, again not too shabby (I think).
But it's the cumulative time which counts, so no silverware for me. I hung around in the hope that they might be able to calculate the results, but clearly their abacus was on the fritz. By 8.30 I was bored, hungry and cold, so I gave it the elbow and headed back home.
Anyway, nothing important fell off or broke, so that's a Good Thing, reliability-wise.
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