Peking to Paris 2007
 Day 30 update Day 28 Riga to Vilnius Today should be 285 miles but we were again surprised by a revised road book at beginning of the day, requiring a degree of “interpretation” as information was vague. The actual start for the day was at the Riga motor circuit, 6 miles from the hotel. The news overnight was that Day 26 results were cancelled due to delays at the Russian border (our results in the Time Trial were voided), and our “off” on Day 27 meant that we were now down 3 places in the standings. As we got in the car in the underground car park I was amused to hear several car alarms going off as some of the very noisy pre-war cars fired up. The 14 litre Le France makes an amazing sound, vibrating everything around it. Before the start we were all invited to tour the Riga car museum, which has a very nice collection of cars and motorbikes , both Western and former soviet models. The first Time Trial was a two lap run round the Riga circuit – no pace notes; many blind corners. Nigel had the Land Rover dancing around on its tyres (its low centre of gravity is an asset) and we even managed to pass an MG Magnette ZA! We completed the course successfully but again we heard tales of others going off the track or missing the Time control points in their enthusiasm. The drive into Lithuania was uneventful and we then went in to some excellent special stages organised by the Lithuanian Motor Club, using closed tracks and roads. Once again, the Time Trials were accompanied by lots of filming and hundreds of spectators on banking. The only issue for us was that some sections between Time Trials stages had target times that meant we needed to achieve a very high average speed – as high as we usually did in the Time Trials, but with two way traffic! We are not actually staying in Vilnius, but 20km north of the city at a lakeside hotel. It is simply luxurious – a real treat after some of the dives we were in in Mongolia and Russia. Day 29 Vilnius to Mikolajki Included in our 250 mile drive today are five Time Trials – one in Lithuania, then four in Poland. The one in Lithuania is on tarmac and is being filmed and photographed by lots of local media and the head of the Lithuanian Motor Club is their too. The tarmac run is more sprint than a typical rally stage, but fun nonetheless despite the obvious disadvantage car 104 has against the likes of the Aston Martins and Jaguars. Getting out of Lithuania into Poland was not at all difficult – though we were delayed five minutes by the Border Guards wanting to photograph car 104 next to their own Land Rover Defenders! They then opened up a separate gate for us to be on our way. We had a good day on the Trials and ran without incident (we later found that we recovered one place in the standings, making up a little after the unfortunate gully incident the other day). However, several other cars were not so lucky – we saw two others had taken to the hedge and undergrowth after misjudging high speed corners and heard tale of the overall leader having an incident too. Glad to see we are in good company! The drive to the hotel was very scenic as we are in the Polish Lake District, but that also meant slow going. Our journey was also delayed at a level crossing whilst an amazingly long train went by; it must have been two soccer pitches long at least. The area we drove through had several very new houses in villages and on the farms – many in the style of a UK house, with terracotta roof tiles, pillared entrances and dormer windows. (I’m guessing that this may partially have been a result of the Polish workers who have migrated to the UK and other Western countries and brought home some of the architectural ideas.) In stark contrast we did also pass a huge, two storey house made in a log cabin style with whole tree trunks – it looked really odd. The hotel in Mikolajki is massive, and again by a lake. The tiny village seems to be totally focussed on tourism, with bars, camp sites and water sports and cycling being advertised everywhere. The hotel is a very modern self-contained holiday centre; several pools, underground entertainment centre, night club, etc. I wish we had time to use it! Day 30 Mikolajki to Gdansk Today includes the final three Time Trials of the Rally, and then we have a well deserved rest day on Tuesday in Gdansk (if the Land Rover doesn’t need too much care and attention after all this activity). The weather this morning in Mikolajki is fabulous, sunny and warm. We have a later start time – 9.16 am – today, though I am not sure why. The drive is relatively short at 220 miles, but a large proportion is on minor roads – as well as 21 km of tracks in the Time Trials. The first fun of the day, however, was in the hotel car park; the hotel issued a plastic card to insert in the exit barrier but some did not appear to be working so a queue formed. Eventually an Australian rallyist resolved this problem by holding the barrier up whilst the cars drove through. We got away on time. With the time differentials now pretty large between the various contenders in the Rally classes there is little pressure to drive hard – a few seconds or the odd minute gained is unlikely to improve position, but an accidental “off” could cause the loss of a hour or more (and more serious damage). Nonetheless, the competitive instincts of most seasoned Rallyists means that more than half those attempting the Trials are really trying (though probably at ten tenths rather than eleven tenths!). We navigated and drove through the three Trials in respectable times. In the second trial we came upon one marshal post where all we could see at first was the high-viz jacket they normally wear; it was pinned to a gate. I then caught a glimpse of the “marshal”, asleep! In the second Trial there was plenty of standing water/mud on the forest floor, which made spectacular splashes as we ploughed into the puddles. The Land Rover was plastered in mud (again) and resembled one of the recent Land Rover adverts in the press. One local man with a camera is likely to have regretted where he stood this morning, he probably needed to clean his camera before using it again! Our hotel today is to the north of Gdansk, near a small suburb called Sopot. The hotel has views over the Baltic and backs on to a long sandy beach. We have a day off tomorrow, so we will be relaxing this evening and investigating the bars and restaurants along with all the competitors as we can begin to relax a bit more now the Time Trials are over.
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