Syd Stelvio – Sahara Challenge Day 3 – Fes to Ifrane – 338 km
“Yesterday’s roads were awesome’, was the summary chorus from David and Susan Danglard, “they’re gonna take some beating”. They were right as well, yesterday’s roads were incredible, but by the end of day three of this year’s Sahara Challenge, I’m sure that everyone would have to agree they had been superseded.
Today was a driver’s day, not necessarily the driver’s day, but when we finish this navigation of Morocco, I’m certain it will be up there with the best of them. 338 kilometres of just tremendous tarmac and dirt, that twisted and turned a merry dance through the mountains and valleys between Fes and Ifrane.
Even the morning traffic in Fes was on its best behaviour, the often-fraught morning rush hour seemingly postponed for our run out past the ancient city walls. It wasn’t long before the route would dive stage right off of the main highway and begin to climb. The Cannabaceae plants that had been so prevalent the previous day had been replaced by terraced Olive Groves and Citrus trees, a Vitamin C detox after all of the hemp yesterday. It would be a day of ever evolving scenery, but these plantations surrounded the days first regularity, that occurred after a wonderful 70km stride out from Fes, passing the breath-taking Allal al Fassi Dam, the extensive reservoir on the Sebou River forming a giant mirror in the morning sun.
This first reg was relatively simple, with some climbing and descending to take care of, but no doubt most people’s minds were fixed firmly on the first Sporting Time Control of the event, that was a further 20km or so down the road from the reg. Before that though, there was a time control to check in at, and an opportunity to take on some of the rocket fuel coffee being sold by a roadside café.
The STC itself saw a switch to forest, after a swift climb through the charred remains of trees that had fallen victim to the intense summer heat experienced in these mountains. It took place on an ascending ribbon of asphalt, and whilst it offered none of the path finding complexities that will be experienced when we contest these sections in the desert later in the rally, it did require some skill to rotate the machines upwards and through the bends at the pace required, of which at least half of the field struggled with, with no less than 15 competitors picking up time penalties on the climb, including everyone in the top three – except for third placed Tony Sutton and Andrew Lawson who cleaned the section in the big Chevy. It was a feat mimicked by Fabrizio Bove in the Mustang, clearly chomping at the bit now he has his own passport in hand and has re-joined the rally.
Also re-joining the rally today with a fresh passport was Patricia Henderson, navigating the Citroen 11b alongside Michael Lutolf, after having her documents stolen whilst travelling to the start of the event, which I daresay would have caused many of us to give up before we had even begun, so congratulations to Patricia for sticking with it.
It had been a breathless morning, and we still hadn’t reached the halfway point of the day. As soon as the STC finished though, the scenery changed again as the trees ended and the desert began. Where there had been greenery, there was now bare rock, but the vistas were awe-inspiring nonetheless, as the road passed through a multitude of mountain settlements, with the Djellaba clad patrons standing and watching the motoring roadshow with interest, and somewhat disbelief. There were also crowds of enthusiastic, and mostly well-behaved children out to witness the commotion, shouting and cheering the cars on. These scenes were repeated throughout the rest of the day, as we witnessed the carious living conditions experienced by the people here – an opportunity to reflect on what daily life might be like.
There were still a pair of regularities to contend with as morning advanced into afternoon and at around 217 km into the leg, the first of the remaining competition sections began, with a steep climb, and even steeper descent, on a gravel strewn road of a quarry. Whilst many went at the climb with gusto, the speeds on the descent were closely controlled, although maintaining this required plenty of concentration. The majority of the field kept it pretty steady, with the fearsome drops clearly offering plenty of reasons to stay off the loud pedal. Judging by the results though, one or two clearly weren’t interested in such trivial things as timing though, or perhaps they were trying to save money on brake pads, as they earned full penalties for early arrival at the final control. One of these was Sabine Notz Catsiapis, who is clearly enjoying driving the Fangio Coupe with enthusiasm. Irrespective of timing, Sabine has certainly bought a new level of class to the sport, indeed endurance rallying has never looked so glamorous.
Throughout the rest of the afternoon there was plenty of evidence of the damage caused by the recent heavy rain that Morocco has endured. Tracks had been washed away, there was evidence of mud and rockslides and in some places, lakes had formed where six weeks previously the desert had been king. Thankfully nothing was impassable, and indeed it all added to the challenge and enjoyment of what has been a tremendous day on the road. The best performers on the day were Jos Dejongh and Patrick Debusseré, making up for yesterday’s big error with only 16 seconds of penalty accrued for the day.
Overall, Andrew Laing and Ian Milne are sitting at the top of the leader board, and first in the Classic Category, in the Datsun 240z. Trond Bràthen and Bjørn Schage have climbed to second in the category, with a wonderful performance of only 22 seconds on the day, with Joe and Maggie Hayes in third place. In the all-important fight for the overall win, the top three have remained the same, with little gained or lost between yesterday’s top three, and indeed the top four protagonists are all still very close.
Tomorrow is the longest day of the event in terms of milage, with 508 km on the board, although much of this is transit. There are still three competitive sections though, including two STC’s during the afternoon, on a day that will see us experiencing plenty of desert.
Syd
