On the road again

The next day, when we received our results, it was clear that we were not really in the race anymore with 80.000 points at once! It was very different from our ranking after the 1st day (76st!). But we nevertheless took the road again on the Tuesday to go to Monaco. Different conditions, much less snow, good ZR's and magnificent places to drive through. Lakes, mountains, and as usual friendly people on the road to cheer us up.
A last CH in Eze to regroup and Monaco, here we are! First arrival on the podium, collecting the gifts, the places for the dinner the next day. A short break in the hotel - very different from the previous ones ;-) and back on the harbour to have a meal and see the others go off for the famous "Nuit du Turini". But that's for tomorrow ...

Photos!

At the left side, the photos of the blog in a dioparama, more photos of our Monte Carlo.

Other very nice photos of the 2008 edition on Olivier's blog

Where it goes wrong ...

Start from Valence again for the "étape commune". The first RT of the day is a well-known one: le Col de l'Echarasson, a forest road opened only for us. Going up to the top is usually, I said usually, not a problem at all. But this time it was ... At a certain moment, in a straight line the car starting gliding towards the ditch and nothing to do, it gently went into it! Fortunately, no harm, we are ok, the car is ok. We are just out of the car and we hear a "bang". 200m higher a Volvo is also out. We run all ways to try and see whether someone could get us out but we have to wait for a truck. It takes time because they are quite busy, or at lunch ... In the meanwhile, we improvise a little pick-nique with the Austrians, putting together our reserves: chocolat, apples, snaps, ... And all together, the photo shows we looked quite "a happy bunch". We also have help from Belgian fans who came and helped out. Even the truck had problems to get the car out, it had to be fixed on a tree and finally we can go. But too late to do the other regularity stages of the day and we go immediately to the CH of Serre-Chevalier where we arrive in time. We go in and out the ice-track and to Briançon, the parc fermé, to check the car and prepare for the next day.

Etape de classement

First regularity stages on Sunday, after a good night of sleep.
We start again, with the car fixed by our assistance.

After the 4 regularity stages, we are doing well and are 76th at the end of the day.
Up to there, we meet our goals!

The concentration: Reims - Valence

We arrived in Valence on the Thursday and had a first official dinner - the first social event of the rally, not the last - offered by the local authorities and automobile club. It's already the moment to meet again competitors of last years, see new faces and make the first small chats. After a good night of sleep, 22 hours of driving were foreseen between Reims and Valence before the actual regularity stages would start. This means that after having completed the administrative and technical control Friday late morning and afternoon, a second social event took place at the city hall of Reims before the start of the first car at 19h00. We started just after 20h00.
A strange organisation in a CP (contrôle de passage) in Cézanne where the locals didn't make the difference between a CP and a CH (contrôle horaire) and only let in one car per minute ... This means we lost about 20 precious minutes as time is always quite tight. And then we met the snow for the first time. Normal will say "those who know": the "plateau de Langres" is well known for this. And we go from CP to CH with local organising committees who very kindly foresee coffee, soup, breakfast, lunch, ... not sure any more in which order ;-)
Nothing really special to mention untill the car begins to lose power. Just before Valence, no power at all any more, the motor gives the impression to stick as soon as we try to give gas. Lots of people look, give their opinion - they always know better - and after discussion with the assistance, we try to get to Reims, thanks to a helpful service car of another team. Some more trying just in front of the CH and we get into the "parc fermé". Fortunately, we are allowed to have a look and Jean-Pierre finds that there is no grease at the rotor, the "vis patinées" stay open. He can fix it and we know we can start again the day after...

We're back

We'll come back in the next few days with more report but it wasn't as good as expected ... you'll see!