Reporting from Misrata, Libya at the end of Day Four.

The first thing to say is that after the first four days of the Nile Trial and nearly a week since we left England all the cars that started from Tunis are still running and everyone is in fine spirits.... although of an alcohol free kind during our time here in Libya.

Perhaps we should explain that some crews have elected to take a relaxed, Touring, approach to the Nile Trial so that they can linger longer at many ancient sites along our route and avoid the off-road sporting sections that might be a little hard on their cars. Crews on the Touring route do not feature in our results reports so please understand that the fact a crew is not listed in the result does not indicate that they are having problems.

We should also point out that there are several days on the event without timed sections and for which there are unlikely to be any changes to the results. This, combined with the sometimes-difficult connections to the internet, does mean that our news and results reports are likely to remain occasional.

There are so many new experiences for those of us on the Nile Trial that we have to think back to remember meeting up on the dockside at Marseille nearly a week ago. It had be a very rainy and stormy run down through France the previous day and there was still quite a storm blowing as we queued for the ferry, to the extent that it was believable when a rumour spread that the ship would not be sailing that day. However, rumour, it turned out to be and the ship left Marseille on time with the Tannoy announcing that we would be in Tunis, on time, at 8:30 am the next morning.

Kim Bannister, our Clerk of the Course, had sensibly decided that the long crossing would be an ideal time to hold a competitor briefing and had hired the ship's conference room for the meeting. By the appointed time about five hours into the voyage several of our number were already suffering seasickness on what was surely to be the roughest voyage most had ever endured. In the restaurant there was the continuous sound of breaking plates from the kitchens and furniture, pot plants and passengers alike were being thrown from side to side. But let's get back to the conference room meeting taking place almost in the bow of the violently rolling ship.

It had been decided to upload route information to competitors GPS units during this meeting. Unfortunately Chris Bruce who was squinting at his lurching computer screen while trying to complete the uploads was unable to hold back the nausea... enough said.... and, with Kim Bannister and several of the attending competitors also looking a little green it was quickly decided re-convene the briefing on dry land the following day. As far as we know most of our party spent the remainder of the crossing sliding from one end of their bunk to the other.

We docked in Tunis a little after nine and thanks to the great efforts of Dhafer Bassalah, our man in Tunisia, we quickly disembarked and completed the customs and police formalities to be on our way to our comfortable Tunis hotel. Unfortunately permission for the event to start from the museum at the ancient site of Carthage had been withdrawn at short notice but the crews had plenty of free time on Sunday afternoon to make individual visits to the museum. Meanwhile the very excellent ERA breakdown crews of Peter and Betty Banham and Andy Inkskip / Simon Ayris where already busy sorting a few car dramas back in the hotel car park. The Jaguar MkII of Jean and Anne Steinhauser, although looking to have been beautifully prepared, kept Peter Banham occupied for some time tracing wiring that seemed to have too many circuits routed through a single fuse. Various other crews had the usual problems with non-working trip meters and other minor problems. Many crews were also nervous about the use of GPS and how much part it might play in their navigation.

Tunisia has some wonderful rally roads so we were looking forward to a great two days of interesting and varied driving to get the Nile Trial off to a special start.... and so it was to be, but not exactly as planned. On each of the first two days there should have been three timed sections for those taking part in the Sporting category. The first timed section ran exactly as planned on an interesting tarmac road starting beside an ancient aquaduct and running through the gently undulating countryside. Setting the early pace it was Nigel and Paula Broderick in their Datsun 240Z who, returning for their first event in several years, have obviously lost none of their touch and recorded a time over a minute ahead of the next placed car.

The second test had been a wonderful gravel road of sweeping bends when the route survey team made the route last July. It is now a wonderful road of newly laid smooth tarmac with a few loose gravel patches on the surface to catch the unwary. Quickest on this section was the powerful Mercedes 450SE of Terence Ward and Geoffrey Nicholls who outpaced the Brodericks in second and Jose and Maria De Sousa's ex-Tony Fall Volvo in third.

Next up before reaching our first event overnight in the beautiful Kasbah Hotel at Kairouan was to be an off-road section approached through a river bed crossing. The local police had notified that the winter weather had left the river crossing in difficult condition so Lee and Sue Vincent went ahead in their Land Cruiser to check the situation. They did make it though the deeply rutted muddy approach to the river but with so far to go an so many immaculate cars to consider the section was cancelled and a quickly arranged re-route lead the cars to Kairouan for a very comfortable overnight.

Late to arrive at the end of the first day was the 1926 Vauxhall 14/40 of Geoffrey and Linda Cook that, apart from being a slow car by modern standards, was also suffering from a fuel feed problem caused by what seemed to be a silicone type material in the fuel tank blocking the lines. An alternate supply had to be rigged feeding fuel from a small can on the running board requiring refuelling stops every 60 kms. We hear that this problem has been overcome after a replacement fuel tank found by our sweep mechanics was fitted during the first overnight halt in Libya in a job completed at 3am on the morning of Day Four.

The Steinhauser Jaguar was also late in after even Peter Banham's expertise had been tested with seized front wheel bearings that had completely welded themselves to the stub axles. The cause is not known unless they had been tightened excessively during preparation. As usual Peter was not beaten and even managed to locate more spares that Jean Steinhauser went to fetch using a local police car for the taxi service. Jean was thought to be considering if he should continue into Libya after these problems but happily he is still with us here in Mirsrata with no further problems other than brake lights that are not working.

Day Two, our final day in Tunisia, was to be another with three timed sections but once again a long section through the mountains had to be cancelled because the winter weather had exposed long stretches of vicious bedrock that would have been too punishing for the cars on this event. Once again a pre-planned alternate route took the crews through some very scenic mountain roads via Matmata to the overnight on the road to the Libyan border at Tataouine.

The day had officially started some 90kms from Kairouan at El Jem where time had been set aside to view the ancient remains of this great amphitheatre where all manner of sport had taken place in earlier times. Our sporting action consisted of two enjoyable (for most) off-road timed sections that ran as planned. On the first it would once again be the Brodericks quickest but this time it was Clive Dunster and Cecilia Agger in their Lotus Cortina that would be second. In the Vintage pre-war category Harry and Catherine Hickling, 1938 MG SA, beat Michael and Sarah O'Shea, 1948 Jaguar 3.5 saloon, by half a minute.

The next timed section was along a service track beside a railway This test was generally over a firm but sandy track but also included several water filled patches of mud. For cautious and alert crews there was an alternate track driven by local drivers around each of the bad patches. Needless to say some of our crews were not so cautious. We will not be so ungallant as to name them here. Many of them suffered enough by taking a test maximum penalty after having to wait until Lee and Sue Vincent towed them out of their muddy sticking point. Later, at the evening dinner in Tataouine one crew was awarded the quickly invented chocolate mouse trophy for the amount of time spent trying get them out of the bog.

Of note on the Railway test was Paul and Sandra Merryweather known to many of us as a competitive and quick pairing. Paul and Sandra are on the Nile Trial in the Touring category insisting they are here just for the holiday but the railway test was right beside the main road so Paul couldn't resist giving it a go, and Sandra generously gave her permission. Driving his remarkable 1938 Chevrolet Fangio Coupe look-alike Paul set a time exactly equal to that of, once again fastest crew, the Brodericks. Applause must also go the David and Karen Ayre in their mighty 1907 Itala who picked up the day's award for the best Vintage performance on this test. David spares no effort when driving this extraordinary car and perhaps he's paying the price as last night he rebuilt the entire multi-plate clutch in the hotel car park and is once again performing the same feat here in Misrata declaring it worse today that yesterday. There has been a large audience of amazed onlookers watching as the whole inside of this car is dismantled and laid out piece by piece in the hotel car park.

Wednesday, Day Three, was our day to enter Libya.... a new adventure for nearly all our crews on this the first international Classic Car event to cross this country. Once again Dhafer Bassalah had worked his magic and the diplomatic channel at the border was opened for us to breeze through into Libya to meet Nuri Lamin, our man in Libya. Sadly his task was not as straightforward in this country where the people are so friendly but where the authorities are also mindful of how outsiders might react to any problems. Consequently the police and tourist officials being determined to avoid any risk to their guests did exercise a tight control over border proceedings. Enough to say that it was some hours later that we completed the 80 kms run in Libya to the hotel at Sabratha too late for our planned visit to the ancient ruins that afternoon. With the co-operation of the Sabratha authorities the site gates were opened an hour early on Day Four so that everyone could visit before continuing via the outskirts of Tripoli to Leptis Magna a truly remarkable site that is surely one of the highlights of the Nile-Trial.

A memorable day experiencing the wonders of the ancient Roman antiquities and the unique experience of driving in Libya concluded tonight as we have enjoyed a splendid tented dinner provided by our Libyan hosts. We were greeted by traditional costumed horsemen and serenaded by local music and dancing joined by Kim Bannister.

To make those at home just a little more jealous.... We knew that fuel would be cheap in Libya but it still takes some getting used to. One crew with a large fuel tank filled up and saw the money meter tick round to 1500 so they peeled off 150 Libyan dinar thinking that £75 pounds was not so cheap after all for 100 litres of fuel. The very honest... as everyone seems to be.... fuel attendant then returned nearly all the money. It really was only 15 dinar, or seven pound fifty, for a full tank of fuel. We have nearly all changed too much money based on the amount for fuel we'll be using before we reach Egypt.

It's Friday, Day Five, tomorrow. We cover a relatively short run to Sirt and restart the sporting action with two tests close beside the line of the great man made river project..... a massive underground river built to deliver fresh water across Libya. We'll report again when time and connections allow.