Syd Stelvio, Pearl of India Day 5 – Udaipur to Manvar Camp – 482km

Day 5 was a long day, not just in distance travelled, but it felt like a long day as well. Big road sections sat between the days pair of regularities, and there was no congregating at a time control either to bring everyone back together again. The field was spread over a long distance, and if you were on your own, it was a lonely existence, as even contact with the travelling marshals was fleeting.

There was a distinct change in the way the roads were though, they started to become quieter. There was still plenty of traffic, but by Indian standards these were practically empty. Whilst the traffic decreased, the number of animals inhabiting the highways increased, with plenty of Dogs, Cows, Monkeys and Camels to dodge along the way. The Cows in particular were a problem, the bigger Oxon with their grey hide were camouflaged against the road surface and thought nothing of nonchalantly strolling into the middle of the carriageway and stopping to stare, offering little room to pass on either side.

It certainly passed the time though, whilst marking off the kilometres on the transits. 105 of these would be completed by the time the first competitive element of the day began, an entertaining regularity that took place in the hills above the village of Malera. These were the closest thing to mountain roads we have had so far, and the only thing more dangerous than the gravel strewn across the road, and the drops to the side of it, were the animals that made moving chicanes for the cars, as they climbed to the roads peak. There was then a long, straight run to the end of the reg that needed maximum discipline with the right foot to ensure the correct speed was maintained. Sure enough, a browse of the results showed that there were plenty of early penalties, although no terrible offenders and the best performers on the section were Patrick and Pam Watts, a surprise given the former Touring Car racers penchant for burying the throttle, Pam is clearly doing a great job of keeping him in line.

One car that didn’t have the opportunity to tackle the regularity was the Hindustan Ambassador crewed by rookies Navin Chandiramani and Pradeep Vaswani, as the MK3’s engine let go during the mornings run out. After being towed to safety by the Sweeps, they set about finding a replacement power plant, and funnily enough it wasn’t too much of a stretch to track one down. We expect them to be back with us on Day 7.

The day continued in the usual fashion, with plenty of busy towns and villages punctuating the highways, with all of the customary chaos to keep the driver’s concentration levels up. This, coupled with the errant fauna, is what makes the days feel long at times, as much as it is entertaining. The enthusiasm of the locals though, is infectious, and always raises a smile. The roads were smoother than they had been at least, although one must pay attention as there are surprise speed humps at regular intervals, aggressive enough to launch an unexpecting motorist into orbit should the closing speed be too high.

As the day drew on, the landscape began to change, as we crept into the fringes of the Thar Desert, with rock and sand replacing the rich soil of the regions we had passed through up until now. In its extreme, it is an unforgiving place and not somewhere anyone would want to suffer mechanical issues, especially off route. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to Peter and Debbie Fitzcharles in the beautiful blue Mercedes Benz 220. It’s fair to say the car has been behaving like a petulant teenager, huffing and stamping its way along so far, refusing to budge multiple times. This latest stoppage was just another in a long line of fuelling problems the couple have been suffering in the heat, but on this occasion, they were some way off route after a wrong slot and had to walk back to civilisation and wave down a travelling marshal. They would arrive late at the camp on the evening of day 5, but they are persisting and refusing to let the mechanical tantrums get them down.

For those who did get into the MTC on time, they had the treat of watching the sunset over the sand, from the comfort of our luxury tents in the Manvar Camp, our home for the evening. As darkness fell, we were treated to local entertainment and then a tremendous banquet under the star filled sky. Underfoot, the eagle eyed may have noticed the odd scorpion trotting about the camp, but with a good day on the regularities for most of the field, there wasn’t a sting for anyone when the results were published, with positions remaining static all the way down to fifteenth place. Best on the day was shared between two crews. The first was the Buchan brothers, showing that they still meant business, and with plenty of days still to go a consistent run from them could easily see them back in the podium positions. Their 9 seconds of penalty was equalled by Nick Brayshaw and Vikki Lang, a just reward for their persistence with the mechanical issues experienced during the first few days.

Day 6 is a shorter one, with a late start and early finish, but I’ve a feeling that the potential for chaos could be inverse to the number of kilometres. We shall see…

Syd