Day 6 - Vila Real to Coimbra

We had been warned that today would be the longest one, and looking at our timecards we had an 8.20 am start and a 7.30pm finish.

The morning went quickly though, as we were in the Douro Valley, which we remembered from last time as being quite wonderful. This is where all the grapes for the best port are grown, and October is harvest time. Imagine a gorge with terraced hills for as far as you can see - all golden with vines, some sun, and a bit of mist - all perfectly still and you've got it. We had a half hour stop at one of the Quintas (port houses) and it was nice to soak up a bit of sun and relax - we were finding this rally extremely demanding, and once in the car each day the concentration was full on.

Above: Douro Valley

After collecting a goody bag of port, we headed up and over the hills, away from the vines and towards the town of Mangualde, where the lunch stop was scheduled. Quite a long road section to get there, but no regularities or tests, so in a way quite relaxing for a change. There was wine and (sheep's) cheese tasting at the lunch halt, and we bought some, vowing to sort out the boot at some stage, as we seemed to have accumulated all sorts of bits and pieces along the way.

Next we had a deviation to another town (Gouveia), where the mayor had specifically asked us to stop by. A few Aunty's were visited as the directions were complex, and some cars were given packs of wine by the mayor, although we didn't see him.

A long drive straight up now, to the top of Portugal's highest mountain, Torre (1993 metres/6539 feet). The drive was amazing - very few barriers and the road in a huge 'U' shape around an ancient glacier on the way. The views back down the valley we had climbed were amazing - and we had time to look as a shepherd was moving his goats across our road for quite some time. We had a time control at the top, so a couple of minutes to spare for a photo, before heading down again on roads previously used as stages on the old Portugese rallies - superb!

Above: Torre summit

I can honestly say we were completely shattered on arrival in Coimbra - the heavy schedule not just of Day 6 but the previous days as well all catching up with us, and the added concentration of always keeping an eye on fuel. In fact today we managed to put 47 litres in our 45 litre tank, so must have been right on the limit. We were lucky to be staying at the same hotel as the last time control though, as some crews had to clock in and then move on to other hotels.

Day 7 - Coimbra to Lisbon

Great roads this morning, through lots of drowned valleys and gum trees - what a lovely smell and a nice way to start the day. Then a strange detour, to the geographical centre of Portugal for a time control. So, now we have done the highest point and the middle!

Lunch today was an absolute highlight, although on paper it looked pretty average. In the route book it was described as 'a newly opened restaurant alongside the main road that is big enough to cope with a large group such as ours'. On arrival there, there was a local orchestra playing, and traditional folk dancing going on, all put on by the local town. The costumes, music and people were just wonderful and we felt very privileged they had gone to so much trouble for us. We also had our first ham and cheese roll today, which was very welcome after some of the heavier lunches we had been experiencing.

Above: Sardoal lunch stop

The next section was 190 km long, just a straight link to get us into Lisbon, but the roads were pretty awful, or should I say the Portugese drivers were - passing with no space to move, braking suddenly etc, so not very enjoyable. We had an adventure when a truck in front of us carrying vegetables started losing it's load, which we successfully dodged except for one huge onion, as big as a football, that got partly lodged under the car. It smelt like a barbeque!!

After various toll booths on the outskirts of Lisbon, our next time control was at the Cristo Rei monument, on the South side of Lisbon. This is a statue of Christ, modelled on the one in Rio de Janeiro, and is 113 metres high, with a chapel in the middle and a lift to his feet. On parking at the bottom, this is an absolutely enormous statue - apparently his hands are 30 metres apart.....and we were heading for the lifts to see it up close.

View of Lisbon from Cristo Rei

The view of Lisbon from the top was incredible - for the length of time I had my eyes open, anyway. The lift takes you to the top of the base, or the base of his feet, so you are actually on top of the inverted 'U' in the picture, complete with a 1 metre high wall and 2 metres of mesh above that. You can then go up more stairs and sit on his feet, which I declined. Looking down from the statue, you see the Ponte de 25 Abril, the suspension bridge modelled on the Golden Gate Bridge, and the main artery into Lisbon itself, complete with 12 lanes of traffic!

Left: Cristo Rei, showing base and Chapel in centre Above: Rally cars below from Cristo Rei

As this was Sunday afternoon, and we could see the traffic building on the bridge, we were allocated an extra 60 minutes time to get into the city, so we knew things must be bad. Still, considering the amount of traffic, we didn't think it took too long. Dinner tonight seemed much more relaxed, with only half a day of competition to go and several crews still on gold medal standard, including us!!

Day 8 - Lisbon to Lisbon

An obscenely early start to get to Estoril grand prix circuit by 8am. Apparently, the circuit was being used by the Minardi Formula 1 team and we had to be well clear before they arrived, but as the last race of the season was in Japan only two days previously.....?

We had to complete 2 identical laps here - ie do one lap, note your time and then do another one the same. The restrictions are that you must be quick but not too quick - between 60 kph and 80 kph, no faster than 3 minutes 8 seconds and no slower than 4 minutes 11 seconds. Got that? So, we went around at around 40 mph and in 3 minutes 42 seconds, and were only out by 1 second after the second lap, so still within gold medal standard (maximum of 5 seconds allowed here).

Next was a regularity section at Sintra, site of the Palacio Nacional de Pena - a Bavarian looking castle built in the 19th century. By now it was raining heavily, and the fog was still hanging around too, so not quite the sunny Portugal we had looked forward to! The average speed set for the regularity was 27.97 mph, and at the first turn we knew we were in trouble - straight up, with leaves on the road, stone walls either side, and with oncoming traffic. Pete did well to keep the car on the road, and we made it to the first time control 17 seconds down - still within gold, but we were to find out later that several crews lost their gold here - it really was very dangerous.

Thinking that the worst was over, we headed out to the coast on a road section to Ericeira, a traditional fishing village, where there was a time control and about 20 minutes to look around before clocking out. In the ultimate visit to grandest Aunty of them all, we took a left turn 100 metres before we should, and ended up very lost and about 20 minutes behind schedule.

We decided the most sensible thing to do (apart from the obvious one of don't panic) was to retrace our steps to where we knew we were last right, which we did, in time to see car 53 going past - we knew we were seriously late now! To say that we flew into this small, quiet and traditional fishing village is a complete understatement, and while I was sprinting to the time control with 1 MINUTE to spare, Pete was being interviewed by local television, probably for making such a grand entrance. (Our power slide to the steps of the tourist information office where the time control was did attract a round of applause from a Saga tour group - that's a wrinklies tour for us foreigners).

Whew! Now all we had left was a last regularity and a run back into Lisbon to the Praco de Commercio. We took time out to blow up Skippy 2 (thanks Al & Ed) and put the roof down and enjoy it, after all, we finished higher up than last time, in much tougher company on a much tougher rally and with a gold medal. To have a car like ours though, that never misses a beat and is so reliable and powerful really makes the sport so much more enjoyable. And who says we do this for relaxation again?

The presentation dinner was held in the pavilion at the botanic gardens, and we were thrilled that team 'Three Islands' won the best marque team award by quite a margin.

'The Three Islands' - winners of the Marque trophy

PS The ultimate award at the presentation dinner was our national trophy. As we were entered as Australians, we won the only award for that country. However, when we read the brass plaque on the trophy itself, the wording is 'Best Austrian Team'!!

 

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