Syd Stelvio, Pearl of India Day 6 – Manvar Camp to Jodhpur – 219km
A desert sunrise is a beautiful thing, though I’m not sure how many of our travelling band were up early enough to see the orange disc pop up over the horizon. You see a later start is not something to be sniffed at on a rally such as this, and with the first vehicle not due out until 09:30, no doubt most wanted to get as much shuteye as possible. The thin canvass of the tents wouldn’t keep the light out for long though, and the early birds ventured out into a cool morning, another treat in this climate.
There were less kilometres planned on the road today, though there would still be two regularities to contest, and the day would see us reaching the end of our northerly trajectory, before heading east, towards Jodhpur, and a stay in the magnificent Umaid Bhawan Palace, which truly is fit for a King.
The regularities today were both fun-filled and even took the cars off-road onto sand and gravel for the first time. The first of these occurred just 34 kilometres from the camp, a short run along the highway, this time with a large convoy of military vehicles heading toward us, the presence of the military is much higher in this part of the country, less than 200 miles from the border.
Things again had a very rural vibe to them, with traffic lessening even more, though there were plenty of tractors still about. One of these tractors was clearly surprised by the convoy of team vehicles heading towards him, as he threw himself and his tractor headlong into a ditch to clear the way for them. An unlikely saviour emerged in the shape of Clerk of the Course, Guy Woodcock, who has clearly been studying his religious texts since arriving here, and he and Ed Rutherford stopped to drag the stricken farm vehicle back onto the road.
The lessening of the traffic was no bad thing with regularity number one being fought out over narrow gravel tracks, lined either side by the vicious desert plants, the thorns of which can easily pierce a tyre – or a walking boot! The vintage cars were first on the road, and arrived line astern into the regularity, with the short run out none had been overtaken by the classic machines just yet. But by the end of the reg this had changed, with a clerical error causing Mike Dreelan and Bob Pybus in the Lagonda to miss a junction. By the time they had realised the mistake, the time had gone, and a full minute’s penalty had been accrued. They weren’t on their own, car 1, car 3 and car 11 all totted up the full penalty at the regs second timing point.
There was trouble in the tracks elsewhere too, with a wrong approach to the first timing point for Paul Darrouzet and John Gray in the big red Mustang, after a tricky slot through the desert scrub bought the cars into the first marshal’s post. They were in good company, with plenty of cars confused by the slot through the scrub. The best performers across the sand were Jim Grayson and Simon Spinks, in the Escort Mexico, relishing the opportunity to let loose on the gravel, despite the fact that they are suffering with a slipping clutch.
A couple of cars nearly didn’t make the reg at all, with one car reportedly heading off route on a shopping spree. I’ll not name names, it’s more than my job is worth, but that might give you a little clue as to who went on a supermarket sweep, whilst our actual sweeps were busy dismantling the reg. They arrived just in time though, and just in time to get through the roadworks that had sprung up in the middle of nowhere, as the boys from the black stuff turned up, laying down tarmac as the cars roared through.
The mid-point of the day was in the typical side of the road eatery, serving up spicy lunchtime treats for the brave, and bags of crisps and biscuits for those perhaps not ready to risk their intestinal integrity just yet. Following on from this, a short run to the next regularity followed, passing a roadside chilli market, with sacks and sacks of the fiery red delicacies available for purchase.
The reg itself was a little bit spicy, with a full complement of timing points, on narrow roads between stone walls. There were plenty of tractors and people going about their daily lives to contend with, offering numerous of opportunity for delays, and the stone walls giving good reason not to push too hard to make up any lost seconds. This was certainly the experience of Mark and Loes Thieme, and Jonathan Turner and James Blackhall, with both needing to put some manners on a tractor driver who was completely oblivious to the pair of Bentleys tooting and roaring behind him. Elsewhere, the Escorts good performance would continue, having the best of the second reg, losing four seconds, but they only just pipped Martin and Olivia Hunt in the Big Bentley and Nick Brayshaw and Vikki Lang, with both crews timing in at 5 seconds across the three timing points. The last of these marshals’ posts had quite the crowd around it, with Ed Rutherford imparting the finer points of time keeping to the fascinated children, who were even more thrilled when the crews stopped for a quick chat and photographs with them as well.
Upon reaching Jodhpur we were again thrust into the chaos of the busy city streets, before rising to the calm serenity of the Umaid Bhawan Palace, that sits on a hilltop above the city. This sensational building is one of the largest private residences in the world, and the principal residence of the former Jodhpur Royal Family and is owned by the grandson of Maharaja Umaid Singh. There was a ceremonial entrance for everyone, with drinks and flower garlands, though I’m certain all the crews were really interested in were the results on the day, which had fluctuated somewhat after the previous day’s stalemate. Into top spot, after besting the day were Jim Grayson and Simon Spinks, but only by a second from the Hunt’s, with Richard Clark and Jonathan Round completing the top three. Elsewhere, the Buchans continued to climb, as did the Watts and Alain Lejeune and Herve Collette in the Volvo, in part due to the wrong slot for Mike Dreelan and Bob Pybus.
A shorter day it may have been, but it was certainly a busy one, as we continue this navigation around India.
Syd
