Syd Stelvio – Gaucho Trail Day 2: Rivera to Santa Cruz do Sul – 423km

It was an early start for the rally today, with an 06:30 departure for the first bus that was to transport weary drivers to collect their cars from the customs warehouse. The good news was that we were met by a sunrise, as golden slivers of light crept through the windows of the busses, always a reviving elixir when the alarm goes off before one would like.

Plenty of time had been allocated to retrieve the vehicles, no doubt planning in some contingency for drivers being out on the road without their navigators, even if it was for just a few miles. They would be reunited at the immigration area, and for anyone with any mechanical issues there would be time to work on vehicles from the discomfort of the carpark, before needing to check out of the of the Main Time Control. Unfortunately, there was one crew whose technical hangover was a little more serious than others, as the Mercedes of Niklas Pohl and Nathalie Pohl had fallen foul of a head gasket issue that would leave them no choice but to skip the day and search for more meaningful intervention for the Merc. All of us will be hoping that they and the rest of the Pohl crew are able to rejoin as soon as they can.

There was also a potentially serious issue for Tommy Dreelan and George Barrack to contend with, as the Fangio was suffering from a problem with its oil feed, though surely if anyone could sort that out it would be Tommy! He was last seen muttering something about the ‘Strait of Hormuz’, as the sweeps worked on a fix to the supply. Somewhere along the line the Chevy got back on the road again after the problem was diagnosed, and oil began to flow freely again, though they would miss the first reg.

For the rest of us Brazil beckoned, and as so often with a change of country the view out of the window changed instantly, almost as if the atmosphere filtered light in a different way. The buildings changed, with houses appearing much more makeshift and less modern than much of what we had seen in Uruguay, there were old vehicles good for nothing but scrap in gardens and everything had a touch of patina about it. Not that any of that is a bad thing, there was a wonderful vibrance to everything, and the countryside offered the same, with vast expanses of agricultural land, often dominated by rice paddies and, later in the day, fields thick with tobacco plants.

Before the days first competitive element was reached, there was one final passage control to allow the marshal team to get into position, which offered a chance to refuel cars and bellies. Navigators took the chance to work through road book amendments, using an al fresco pool table as a makeshift desk. The service stations resident dogs looked on bemused by this unusual use of the leisure facilities, but they needn’t have worried about any damage to the baize, it had long lost its lustre, and the cue ball bore a closer resemblance to pumice stone than anything billiards related.

The drivers were itching to get going, and it wouldn’t be long before all were making excellent progress down Brazil’s quietish highways. Trucks were reasonably frequent, but passable and eventually it was time to turn off the road and head into the scrubland on sand and dirt tracks for a 20km reg to kick off a trio of competitive sections that would break up the days travel. The surface was slippery, and bumpy in places as well, with logging trucks sharing the road with us for the first part of the section. Thank fully, they were fairly obliging at letting the cars pass, at least when they could see them. The only timing point for the reg would be right at the end of the section, meaning everyone would need to keep concentration levels high and keep playing until the whistle. Four cars would manage to do this to the utmost level, delivering zeros on the reg, including Stephen Hardwick and Ian Riley, Michael Busch and Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon and Torben Tolstøj and Birgitte Tolstøj Jensen. Father and Son crew Steve and Charlie Gray also scored a zero in the golden AC, despite them fishtailing the powerful machine up one of the sandy hills. Their tail happy antics were nothing on Martin Dippie’s exuberance in his Porsche RS though, as he rounded one of the bends completely broadside in the 911, though sadly you don’t get extra points for style. Plenty of school playground cool points though.

A highway run to the city of Santa Maria followed, with another regularity penned for the other side of the large metropolis’s sprawl of high-rise buildings. A few machines were struggling to make the reg, with car 5 suffering ignition issues again, and despite trying to make the reg they would miss the rest of the day’s competitive sections. Argentine crew Jorge Perez Companc and Ezequiel Perez Companc would also have to pull out of the day, with clutch problems in the newly prepared Ford. In fact, they have taken the decision to retreat to their home in Argentina to fix the car, a huge shame, but they hope to rejoin us once we hit Argentine soil.

The day would end with a test, at the Autodromo Santa Cruz, not far from the evenings halt. The circuit was a big one, and would certainly suit the more powerful cars, but for anyone having a blast around, the one lap dash would prove to be tremendous fun, especially after all had endured an increase in HGV traffic as the day had drawn on. No surprise that the fastest machine around the track was one of the Porsche’s, and one of those in the field who has a bit of experience on track. With a time of 2:45 first blood on the tests goes to Martin Dippie in the 3.0 litre RS, with Philip Engelen 6 seconds behind that in his 911S and Steve Gray a further 4 seconds behind in the Cobra. Peter Moreton was the fastest of the rest, in his Rover P6, which might not be everyone’s first choice of track toy, but proving it, and the driver’spedigree, nonetheless. The fastest vintage machine was pedalled by Richard Walker, despite the former European Truck Racing Champion picking up a line fault. Another former professional racing driver up in front of the stewards was Patrick Watts, who was probably pleased with his time, though the former touring car driver had missed a section of the test that took the cars off the main circuit to traverse some cones. You can’t go cutting the corners Patrick! You’re not at Thruxton now!

It was an exhilarating end to the day, even for Simon Bonham and Pete Emms, who were forced to coast to the line after a throttle linkage issue on the big Merc. No doubt they will look back on that episode with a wry smile now, and be ready to go again tomorrow, when the rally heads to Chapeco and the adventure continues.

Syd.