Whew.... The past three days have been tough, sometimes brutal.
The driving conditions for the 9 hour days at high speed ( 130kph ) with a race track and a couple of regularities thrown in seem to never end. Some of it on gravel and dusty roads. Riding in Fang is like being in the paint shaker, due to the 40k gusty winds, usually from the side ( west ) and the rough two lane Argentine roads, covered with trucks that move along like trains drafting each other to cut down on the effects of the winds. The sand in the air gets into everything as the windows and all vents are open due to the 90+ heat. Ear plugs are pushed in as far as possible due to the wind noise sounding like thunder, drowning out all the exhaust noise and making the engine sound like some sort of grinder. At night, with bloodshot eyes and sore ears, we sleep with ears ringing due to the days thunderous environment.
Fang has performed on five race track since we're left Buenos Aires and has scored the fastest time in all five. Held his own on the regularities and run like a top. Perfection in fact, with a 41 second lead as of yesterday. 41 seconds in a rally are almost the same as minutes in a sail boat race, as each one is hard to come by.
The results this morning dealt us a huge blow. Fang got caught in traffic yesterday afternoon and missed the required 16:00 time check in at the hotel. We were penalized an entire minute and went from first to eighth place in a heart beat. Made the day seem mighty long. However we had a great run on two tracks today and a decent regularity.
Now we start our comeback. Difficult but possible. We have a day off tomorrow by the South Atlantic Ocean with whales spouting in sight of our hotel. Time to clean Fang up a bit and attend to a few details.
Stay tuned and here are a few more photos from the Fangio Museum:
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