Syd Stelvio – reporting from the 3rd Sahara Challenge

Zagora to Ouarzazate

The oasis town of Zagora saw a hectic time in the car park for a number of cars in need of fettling and running repairs, with the big Daimler tourer of Tim and Pauline Ratcliffe having the cylinder head removed, taken away to be machined in a local workshop, and replaced with Peter Banham having hammered out a makeshift head-gasket from a sheet of copper. Will it hold? Can it now rejoin the rally and make it back to Tangier? Alas, the answer was given within minutes of the morning re-start, and the Daimler was declared hors-de-combat and soon on the back of a truck. The crew, undaunted, have switched to a Renault hire-car.

The Rover 80 of Phillippa McLachlan continues to purr along; the big Rover three litre of Ray Carr Jnr. and David Dabbs has had a more eventful time, arriving late at night into Zagora, and last in, having swallowed a large quantity of diesel in a fill-up, along with navigation problems in crossing the large desert between here and Erfoud.

The Bentley Boys rumble along in fine style, and turn heads wherever they go.

There was a totally new test session on the local airfield this morning, as the previously planned piste was now a bridge-works building site… it looks as if there is a surprise new leader with the Vauxhall Viva GT putting in a storming drive to snatch the lead of the classics category, with the orange Mustang of the Duke of Hazard eager to pounce and “burning the rugs” from every startline.

Todays drive was up through the Draa Valley, lined with green swaying palm trees and forests of date-palms, with locals eager to sell boxes of freshly packed dates to anyone who cares to stop… we are now heading west, one of the shortest days so far.

Ouarzazate to Marrakech

This is a stunning drive, the route arcs south and west on the map, out through the desert to arrive at the foot of the Tizn-n-Test mountain climb. Stand at the top, look down on the sweeping hairpins, and you are witness to a slice of rally history. Take a deep breath in the thin mountain air, as this is a mountain climb that makes the giants of Europe such as the Allos, Izoard and Stelvio look like mere molehills. The heat shimmer off the burning brown slopes could be mistaken for a 1960s film jumping back in time….. and you strain your ears, is that the unmistakable bellow of the trumpets braized to the end of the exhausts of a works Datsun 240Z…. with Shekha Mehta at the wheel, going for it? Nar, its better than that, a brace of Bentleys heaves into view. What, drowning out the sound effects of a V12 Lagonda engine on full song? Yep, car number seven is coming up the mountain in blissful silence, on the end of a tow rope of the Banhams Toyota. A big end has run its course, and the Toyota is straining hard to lug it to the summit.

Lunch in a French restaurant in Azni awaits the survivors with everyone rating the views today as one of the most stunning drives experienced in a very long time.

Results, not that many on this event care much, have changed – the Viva GT crew blew the slender lead with a bout of simple hard luck in booking out on the wrong minute, and a stonking drive by the Mustang’s Sadie and David Williams has grabbed the lead.

Marrakesh To Fez

The rally has arrived here after a long haul through the Atlas mountains, Frank Thompson in car number one turned down an offer of advice for a shorter main-road route, and refused to be seen to chicken out on the toughest haul of the event, with lots of hard arm-twirling through a maze of mountain roads northwards. We are on the home run now. Lunch was at a small village under vines and palms, and everyone downed the bottles of coke and water before setting out for the splendours of the five-star hotel in the shadow of the Fez madina. Tom Hayes and Andy Vann are here, going well in the black Mustang, having had a mishap slipup on wet tiles in the bathroom at Ouarzazate which meant a trip to the local hospital. They are back on all eight cylinders now. Free drinks from the hotel on the terrace, and a big spread of local grub awaits, so Syd must sign off….