Rest Day 2 and Day 11 - Arctic Winter Trial
The Rally enjoyed a lovely first evening in Rovoniemi at a Reception hosted by the Town Mayor and his wife, where we were wined and dined in true Finnish style.
The second Rest Day kicked off at 08:45, when everyone assembled to obtain the specialist clothing designed to protect us from the severe hypothermia that could develop during the gruelling day ahead. But with temperatures of 7 degrees C and the sun shining brightly, the cold was not a problem. After we had been dressed and prepped, it was off to the snowmobiles for the snow safari to a local reindeer farm. Here, we had an opportunity to practise our reindeer-sledding skills (for which we each obtained a reindeer driving licence). However, the kiddies' toboggan run was especially popular with all: speed being the name of the game!
The snowmobile run back to the hotel proved eventful. After going missing, the Secretary of the Meeting and the HERO Club Steward were eventually found buried together in a snow bank, with only their rear-end visible. The Clerk of the Course has of yet made no comment about their tumble in the snow (presumably because he was too busy frolicking with his Deputy to notice).
After a Lapp lunch of reindeer stew and mash, the Rally embarked on the afternoon's activities, which involved everyone being divided into groups to compete in "Snow Olympics". The events included snow-shoe relays, quad biking, snowmobiling, reindeer lassooing and ice golf - and much fun was had by all. Participants also had the opportunity to attend lessons at the ice driving school under the tuition of Heiki Poranen (Clerk of the Course for the Arctic Rally).
Everyone finally returned to the hotel, exhausted but happy, ready to retire to bed; although there were a couple of hardcore party animals who were out to enjoy a Friday night in Rovoniemi!
Day 11 saw another early start, the first car due out of Rovoniemi at 07:00. It seems that the ice driving lessons inspired new confidence in many of the drivers: only this could explain the astonishing number of crews that had to be towed out of snow banks
First up were Jim Carr and Helen Peacock (car 23, the Land Rover Discovery) who came off the road just before the first Regularity Section. Fortunately 'Medic' Mike Johnson was on hand to winch them free. Car 25 (Frans Pasman and Wim Maas in the Toyota Land Cruiser 90) soon suffered a similar mishap. Meanwhile, deep in the Finnish forest, Sir Terence and English and Paul Marsh (car A1, the Toyota Land Cruiser) had decided to get close to nature. Unfortunately, they got too close, and it took car A8 (Waldemar Loeser and Michael Loeser in the Volkswagen Touareg W10) over an hour to help dig them out. Dieter Krönung and Sonja Hillers paid a short visit to a snow bank directly after the second Regularity finish. Those of us who visited the crossroads where the incident occurred are still wondering how it happened
The first Time Control on the second Regularity caused much entertainment for the manning officials, and certainly tested hill-starts on ice. In particular, car 11 (David MacKay and Desmond Smail in the Aston Martin DB6) and car 2 (George and Elizabeth Baird in the Sunbeam Rapier IIIB) had fun spinning in the snow.
The weather is certainly getting warmer as we move further south and it looks as if flour will once again become the norm for Timing Lines in the coming days.
© Jeray and Antler 15.3.03
WINTER OLYMPICS - (in order, winners first)
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1 |
The Spitfires: |
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Mark I'Anson |
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Mary-Jo I'Anson |
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David MacKay |
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Desmond Smail |
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2 |
Hells Angels: |
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Harriet Batson |
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Lars-Åke Haraldsson |
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Michael Loeser |
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Göran Ollausson |
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Mike Preston |
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William van der Straaten |
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Rita van der Straaten |
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3 |
Jo Brownies: |
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Joanna Brown |
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Tony Caldwell |
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Sir Terence English |
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Paul Marsh |
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David Redwood |
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Nigel Redwood |
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4 |
The Elks: |
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Jim Carr |
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Sonja Hillers |
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Don Griffiths |
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Dieter Krönung |
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Helen Peacock |
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5 |
The Tramps: |
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Dr Anantt Dayah |
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Dr Dipak Dayah |
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Kieran Dayah |
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Angela Fenhalls |
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Mahinder Gurnam |
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Dr Nainesh Chotai |
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6 |
The Dutch Devils: |
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Wim Maas |
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Frans Pasman |
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Frans Smaal |
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Lenneke Smaal-Bonte |
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7 |
The Hooligans: |
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Alexandra Brown |
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Waldemar Loeser |
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Malcolm McKay |
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Hywel Thomas |
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Paul Wignall |
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Jayne Wignall |
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8 |
Sideways: |
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Hermann Demuth |
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Agnes Demuth |
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'Medic' Mike Johnson |
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Jeremy Lee |
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Diana Runge |
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Peter Rushforth |
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9 |
Asterix: |
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Lars Billengren |
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John Carol |
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Dave McIntyre |
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Alun Morgan |
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Erik Skreiner |
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Margit Skreiner |
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