Clive worked on Fugly till midnight last night ... in an effort to make it stop as well as go. Unfortunately, different gremlins took hold today ... relating to the motor as well as to the brakes. First the fuel pump ... but then 3 cylinders kept disappearing. It was another late finish for Car no 72 ... and as a consequence a considerable penalty at the final control of the final day of the rally. As a consequence, they dropped some places on the leadership board. Drat and double drat.
The failure of the 3 cylinders turned out to be a stuck choke on one of the 2 enormous carburettors ... the one feeding the rear 3 cylinders of the straight six. Once diagnosed, it was dealt with quite smarktly just after the final control ... by means of a plastic cable tie and a change of 3 plugs.
Hopefully, Fugly will make it to Place Vendome in Paris without futher issue ... provided, that is, that the French protestors do not get in the way ... they have been making a habit of burning cars in their protest against upping the retirement age from 60 to 62.
As we were awaiting Clive and Ces this evening, the other cars were arriving every few minutes to Troyes ... and being ushered into the underground carpark ... which was filling with really noxious fumes.
A little selection the car park attendants follow:
The hero (ie. lunatic) of the rally must be Tim Scott who rode a motorcyle and sidecar from Beijing to Paris without a navigator ... the sidecar was for spare fuel and water only. Because his bike was so slow, he regularly arose at 3-4am and rode (and repaired) until late into the evening (often well past midnight) just to stay in the event.
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| Tim Scott being welcomed by Steve Hyde |
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| Never throw away the wrappers from your beer |
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| Home for 16,000 kms and 6 weeks |
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| Nice graphics |
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| work continues .... |
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| I hope it's not St Valentine's Day!!! |
While the event finishes at Place Vendome tomorrow, each of the cars needs to get back to its original home after that. As you might have heard, the French have just kicked off a new season of countrywide strikes, including blockading the petrol distribution depots. Getting petrol might become difficult for anybody who has not already topped up their long-range tanks and is not ready to leave Paris immediately after the prize-giving ceremony ... and while the strikers are still loading up on Pastis overnight.
For and on behalf of CD and Ces
Late update: The 12 hour penalty for late arrival today has demoted Clive and Ces to 14th overall and 7th in class ... while still a decent position, it was a bitter blow after such a long haul back up the leaderboard.
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