2008 itinerary announced

Big improvements to the itinerary this year. As good as it was last September, lessons learnt have resulted in a route that will see more off-roading for those who want it (and more options for those who don’t), plus the most scenic parts of the route will be driven in daylight. For instance, it was a crying shame that for many the stunning route into Andorra was undertaken at dusk or in the dark, with the majority of crews taking the tunnel instead of the favoured option of driving over the Col (mountain pass). The new route now allows for the Col to be driven in guaranteed daylight, plus I have a couple of other tasty treats in mind.

Remember the dust bowl in Spain I talked about in 2007? Well this time around everyone will have the opportunity to tackle this amazing wilderness. 40 miles of gentle but awesome terrain … heaven!

And still more! Do you recall the presenters of Top Gear driving a Porsche, Ferrari and an Aston Martin along what they described as the “best driving road in the world!” - the Stelvio Pass in Italy? Well we’re going there!!! ... PLUS drive a few more tracks in the process. I tell you, it will be amazing.

Given this road is further east than ever before, yet another opportunity is now possible. You know the strap line of Landy Rally / Bofa 4x4 Rally is 8 COUNTRIES IN 7 DAYS? Well, just to add a bit of spice to the proceedings, make that 10 COUNTRIES IN 7 DAYS!

Yep … TEN countries! Have a look at the new itinerary and you’ll see why:-

ITINEARY 2008

Saturday 13th September (DAY 1)
France (Start at Calais)

Sunday 14th September (DAY 2)
Spain, Andorra

Monday 15th September (DAY 3)
Andorra, France (Val d’Isére)

Tuesday 16th September (DAY 4)
France (Val d’Isére), Italy

Wednesday 17th September (DAY 5)
Italy

Thursday 18th September (DAY 6)
Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany

Friday 19st September (DAY 7)
Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France (Finish at Calais)

You've sussed it, the route this year is being run anti-clockwise. Intriguing eh? Basically the entire event all hinges on the first day. Instead of leaving at noon with a slow, traffic-clogged run down to Luxembourg for the first night's stopover, the idea is we hit the autoroute down past Le Mans towards Biaritz to cover as much ground as possible on Day One. By getting this boring motorway bit out of the way early on - and with it gaining virtually a whole day right at the beginning - the itineary thereafter slots into place perfectly. A cunning plan indeed!

Thanks BTW to Dom the Pirate for popping over the other day to help plan this new itinerary. Trust me, you’re gonna love it!

sounds brilliant

what will the distance be or will it still be 2300 miles?

cheers kieran

It sounds good - I only hope Lenny manages more than the first day ......

A tad more I reckon, but we'll know more after I carry out the reconnoitre in June.

It'll make it Keith, even if Fred has to haul it around the final 2,299 miles!

Fantastic..........can't wait until Sept!!

Fed up watching that particular episode of Top Gear as everytime my son switches on the telly it's straight to channel "Dave" to see Top Gear from morning to night!! The road does look amazing though!!

AWSOME.


10 countries?
what aboot the scots, welsh and the engerlish teams?
Bleedin eck, 11, 12 and 13 countires in how many days?


bring it oan

Hi Tom,

Looks good, glad to see the 1st day is nice and gentle, just to get us into the idea of the Rally

Mel

Fantastic...

Whats the arrangements Tom for booking in. Can this be done on the previous night to save valuable driving time in the morning, or is it a 6am registration, 9am depart??

Good question. I had already decided to bring forward the start to 10am, and that was merely travelling the anti-clockwise route like last year heading down to Luxembourg. Now we are heading southwest to Spain, I think your suggestion of 9am and majority of the Registration the night before makes good sense (first time for everything eh Jon )

Why not? I am sure folk would rather have more time on the road than twiddling their thumbs on the start line. The only down side is that whereas the noon start last year meant that if teams couldn't get away from work on Friday, it meant they could still get the ferry/tunnel early on Saturday and still make the start. This was my original thinking - to keep Landy Rally a 'week off work event'.

Hey ho, can't please all the people I suppose. Reckon starting Saturday at 9am and high mileage on the first day HAS to be the way to go.

Of course starting Saturday won't effect the Sheltie Vikings team. As they have an additional 650+ miles to cover down from the Shetland Isles just to reach Dover, they'll most likely be on the road from Thursday! Dedicated or what?

Tom,
Cant write too much now... The brain is starting to fuzz after having 2 good ideas in quick succession!!!

However, I reckon most people will look to make the Friday evening ferries if it means getting off the start line a few hours earlier on the Saturday.


Kieren, Better start getting the Red Bull's and Pro+ in now... It'll be a long first day for you

what facilities are ther at the start?

Camp
shower?

long drive be good to awake refresheed with a comfy SSS
and running water for the 'Andrews and Asprin members

Our camp site (with showers, shaves, s ......... ) is all of about 10 seconds drive from the start line, the start line is outside a cafe which opens early especially for us so we can have coffee and nibbles. Couldn't get any closer to facilities if we tried!

Me, I have breakfast on the move - two Anadin and I'm right as rain!

I'm looking forward to doing all the good bits in daylight this time. We missed half of the French/Italian Alps last time as we left Val d'Isere at 6.30 am. After running out of some oil that I'm told makes the transfer box work we missed nearly all of Switzerland in daylight and Andorra ?? well my memory was o a very dark and slightly foggy trip into the country!

This is always provided Lenny will behave himself. He's just passed his MOT so thats a good sign !

Look forward to seeing you all again

P.S. Tom does the campsite in Calais still insist on making the emergency abandon ship announcements all night long ?

Hi Sylvia – That’s the idea. Tackling the route anti-clockwise with an early start on Day One, everything else fall neatly into place. As you say, you’ll be able to see the Alps this time around.

Thought you knew, there's a proven antidote for 'emergency abandon ship announcements' the Froggie's sell in almost every shop - cognac! Take a high enough dosage and I guarantee you’ll sleep through a ship’s fog horn sounding off 10ft away!!!

Monstar - Sylvia wrote:

...
This is always provided Lenny will behave himself. He's just passed his MOT so thats a good sign !
...

Not wanting to be the bearer of bad news but the MOT only suggests that it wont fall apart. No guarantee of reliability. Still, all that said, so long as you can keep the oil, water and Diesel in the right places that Tdi will go anywhere.

Quote :

Kieren, Better start getting the Red Bull's and Pro+ in now... It'll be a long first day for you

funny you should say that as i have the owner of the local indian restuarants saying he will sponsor me in red rooster ( a good energy drink ) better take a trailer with a porter loo

cheers kieran

looking forward to the 8 countries in the last two days

Must just say if comes to either boat keeping Sylvia awake or the other way round, I know which one I'd put my money on.

You wait until you see the dust bowl. Not saying we will do 40 miles like I unintentionally did, but it'll long enough and long smooth enough for everyone to tackle. Can't wait!

kieran wrote:

Quote :

Kieren, Better start getting the Red Bull's and Pro+ in now... It'll be a long first day for you

funny you should say that as i have the owner of the local indian restuarants saying he will sponsor me in red rooster ( a good energy drink ) better take a trailer with a porter loo

cheers kieran

You dont need a portaloo - there's plenty of holes in a Defender floor pan!!

Tom Mc wrote:

Thought you knew, there's a proven antidote for 'emergency abandon ship announcements' the Froggie's sell in almost every shop - cognac! Take a high enough dosage and I guarantee you’ll sleep through a ship’s fog horn sounding off 10ft away!!!

Nice thought - I don't think the team driver will let me sleep it off the next day though. I think as there's only the two of us in our team I'm going to have to do some navigating to get us through France!!