Reporting from Luxor at the end of Day Thirteen
The big Holden of Michael & Anne Wilkinson looks small against the Egyptian landscape
The Nile Trial had been running for ten days without a day off since we left Tunis on the 26th January so the rest day in Cairo was very welcome. The day may have been a break from the rally and long days behind the wheel, but was none the less busy for most crews. There were sights to see, laundry to wash and cars to fix.
The major repair job of the day would be on the Itala. The front axle was seriously bent and there were bad cracks in several of the wooden front wheel spokes. By early morning the ever resourceful Mahmoud 'Turbo' Ezzeldin had recruited some local expert horse-cart builders to examine the damaged wheel and they soon disappeared with the broken pieces. Meanwhile David Ayre set to dismantling the hub assembly from the bent axle beam. It was always going to be a difficult job but after a day of hard work the Itala was ready to start from Cairo the next morning.
A genuine A-series head gasket was found for the MG Midget so that was another car that made it to the day twelve start in front of the Pyramids. Unfortunately the Vauxhall 14/40 was loaded on a transporter to begin the journey home after the axle finally cried enough. Other crews with time to spare spent a hot and sunny day amidst the hot and sunny Cairo tourist traps with thoughts of those back in the ice and snow in England.
Day Twelve - Cairo to Soma Bay
Michael & Valerie Cattermole storm past some acacia trees in their Buick 840
There can be no more iconic image of Egypt than the Pyramids and this was backdrop for the start of our long day on the road to Soma Bay on the Red Sea. As often seems to happen here the start turned out to be a little chaotic but everyone got away to join the teeming morning traffic across the Nile bridge and out of the city. It was going to be a long hot day at the wheel not made easier for many crews by the fact that several had been struck down with stomach troubles.
A late addition to the day was a short test section to be run in both directions on the way up to, and away from, our lunch halt at St. Paul's Monastery. Quickest on both these tests was the Dunster / Agger Lotus Cortina who set exactly the same time in both directions. Of the pre-war cars is was the O'Shea's Jaguar Saloon who were quickest on both runs but they were a little slower on their return run through the test. There is a system of awards for each of the tests sections that by-passes crews who have previously taken an award. By this system the St Paul's pre-war category award went to Philip Lunnon and Michael Heads in the Humber Snipe with the post-war category being won by the every cheerful and hard charging Stephen Hyde and Janet Lyne in the Jaguar MkII.
All that remained for the day was a 300kms run to the overnight halt at Soma Bay on the Red Sea. At the Soma Bay hotel the top of the Lotus Cortina engine was being stripped down to reveal a cam follower with a large hole in the top and two more with serious wear problems. After making temporary repairs the mechanic crews managed to get the car running again hoping it could be coaxed through the day to Luxor. Cecilia Agger declared that Clive and herself would be "going for it… come what may".
Day Thirteen - Soma Bay to Luxor
This was always going to be a big day. Two days of competition remain on the sporting route and today the crews tackle a long test through a range of rugged hills through a stony and sandy region where only the occasional acacia tree grows. There was drama at the start when the army arrived and blocked the route, perhaps unable to comprehend that old cars would want to go this way. Confirmation that all the required permissions were in place was eventually confirmed and most crews were soon on the test. There are some cars on the Nile Trial that would not normally be considered suitable for rallying but such is the crews enthusiasm they were determined to join the sporting action rather than stay on the alternative all tarmac road to Luxor. Some might be re-thinking that decision before the Day Fifteen, slightly lengthened, re-run of the same section.
The Lotus Cortina is a true rally car and had come on the event looking forward to the long tests as a highpoint of the rally. Very sadly it expired on the run out to the test and had to be taken to Luxor. There might still be hope for Day Fifteen as some spare engine parts have been flown out and we have a rest day in Luxor when repairs might be possible. Removal of the cam covers early on the rest day revealed that one of the cams has broken into four pieces. Will the valves be bent? A compression test shows one cylinder a little down but "it will run…. " says Andy Inskip as he gets stuck into the rebuild.
The Gold Mine test section was hard on the little Morgan of David Spurling and Rosalind Shallcross but they came through ok
After nearly an hour on the Gold Mine test the Broderick Datsun 240Z came out just nine seconds ahead of the Wilkinson Holden. Behind them came some awesome performances from crews in cars that might be classed as not suitable for such punishment. Harry and Catherine Hickling took their MG SA to fifth place on the test and now lead the unofficial pre-war category leader board. Caroline Greenhalgh and Rosie Gibson came close behind in the Alvis 4.3 and now hold second place in that unofficial pre-war leader board. These two ladies have developed a real competitive spirit during the event and approach every challenge with great gusto. "Before I came on the rally I was nervous of a speed bump on the school run… now we fly over such hazards without slowing at all" said Caroline at dinner last night.
The organisers have been trying to suggest to Bill and Bridget Bolsover that they might stick to the tarmac in their E-type Jaguar but they would have none of it. They were one of those to suffer on Gold Mine and would arrive late in Luxor on a rope behind one of the rally breakdown crews after holing the sump. They were expecting to be kept busy on the day off looking for a local expert at aluminium welding but Peter Banham soon fixed the problem by riveting a plate to the sump using body filler to seal the joint. The Hyde / Lyne Jaguar MkII arrived making a huge amount of noise after knocking off the exhaust and adding to the racket with a loose sump guard dragging down the road. The MkII also has a hole in the lower fuel tank. The car has an extra tank fitted in the boot so with a little expert plumbing by Peter Banham this is not such a problem. One of the rally official cars arrived with another sump guard they had found on route. This turned out to have come from the Rolls Royce coupe of Mark Robinson and John Austen. Once again praise must go to local hero 'Turbo' Ezzeldin for arranging rescue trucks and everything else for crews with problems.
The pre-war category award for the Gold Mine test went to George Howitt and Monique Rombouts in the lovely but fragile looking Aston Martin MkII while the post-war category award was taken by the VW Beetle of Matthew and John Keeler.