Unfortunately, the first special stage of the day had to be neutralized as a big accident brought the run to a
halt and it was reported that one crew had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. As those are only rumors one
should not take it as a fact but after a long wait the cars lined up for the run were told to go directly to the
second special stage of the day. Normally after this single timed runs the field is spread out very far but as
the cars basically all started at the same time from the intended start of the first stage, they were running
close together all morning. Sometimes one could get the impression that in between the stages and the
connection between them the major difference is the lack of a helmet on the later ones. Some of the teams
are very sportive on the open road and they might miss some of the great landscapes along the road. Even
worse are usually the assistance sprinters as it seems all those mechanics are actually the better racers
than the crew, they support but due to the lack of funds they have to race the rental or even a flatbed.
The most beautiful part of the day was before the lunch stop when the convoy passed the shores of the
Dordogne with the picturesque castles and caves in the rocks. Unfortunately, there seems to be holiday in
France and it is no surprise that a lot of traffic could be found in the narrow roads along the river.
Later we entered the Bordeaux area and it was easy to see that the landscape changed very much to
wineries. So, we drove through large fields of grapes and one could see by the condition of the estates what
money the wine brings into the region.
So, the last special stages were in such a wine area and after the last competitive miles the cars finally
reached Bordeaux where they have their parc fermé at the parc d´exposition.
As mentioned earlier the special stages also brought a shift in the leader board as Mr. John of B could not
defend his lead off the track as the Ligier is simply not the best car for twisty roads. It is now the Ford Escort
of Kevin and Lee Jones that is leading the field but the Ligier is only separated by a margin of 7 second, just
as much as behind is Thierry Boutsen in the Cobra. Also within a minute of the leaders is the fourth placed
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Comp. entered by Lancksweert / van Riet.
Tomorrow will see the traditional switch of the departure times of the single groups as tomorrow and on the
final day the regularity classes will be the front runners. As they arrived the latest today and have to leave
earliest this also results in a “late start” at 7:15 am. After arriving in a reasonable time today this might
actually result in a good sleep, hopefully none of the drivers does take too much of a Bordeaux as he might
regret that tomorrow in the car.
Report & images ... Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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