Back to News
The 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 of David and Susan Danglard has just returned from the Adriatic Adventure Rally and is shipping tomorrow for the Carrera Iberia. This gives us 24 hours to check the car over and make any changes following its podium finish in Trieste last Sunday.
Some rallies are tougher than others. Though it was billed as a competitive regularity rally, the Adriatic Adventure was tougher than expected on the crews and the cars. Leaving Trieste in northern Italy, the route immediately headed up into the mountains, following the gravel tracks and hand-cut tunnels of the old Liege-Sofia-Liege Rally as it made its way into Slovenia.
After an overnight stop in Ljubljana, the caravan again encountered rock-strewn gravel roads on their way through Slovenia en route to Maribor, along the twisty mountain passes of the Steiner Alps. Dusty hairpins and a handling test on a go-kart circuit made for a hair-raising race to Zagreb. Days four and five took the competitors to Sarajevo via Banja Vrucica. Subsequent overnight stops included Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar and Opatija.
The complete twelve-day route covered 3,000 kilometres and put the cars through their paces. Team Tuthill was delighted to score a class win with Anthony and Fiona Galliers-Pratt in their beautiful 911 road rally car, while David and Susan came home on the Class 5 podium. The 911s of Edmund Peel and Sherif Hwaidak both finished the event in fine style.
Carrera Iberia 2019
Next event for our dynamic American husband & wife duo in the K1 Speed 911 is Carrera Iberia, a 3,470-kilometre rally from October 7-17, travelling from the historic port of Santander in northern Spain to Vilamoura on the south coast of Portugal.
The organisers say that “the carefully planned route features nine days of memorable driving on deserted asphalt roads far away from the beaten track taking entrants through vineyards such as Rioja and the Douro Valley, quaint towns, rolling hills, dramatic canyons, twisting hillclimbs and atmospheric medieval citadels, all interspersed with overnight stops at paradors, pousadas and five-star hotels in the wine regions.”
The route also includes visits to a number of the region’s top race circuits: Navarra, Braga, Portimao and Estoril, where Ayrton Senna won his first Grand Prix, so the car must be in top mechanical condition. We’ll be checking the condition of suspension, steering and brakes, fitting a second set of wheels with new tyres, fitting new brake pads and changing the engine oil, checking lights and electrics, running through the ignition system, looking for leaks and topping up any fluids.
We build our adventure rally cars to last, so they tend to be pretty reliable, but you never know what can happen on event. A single day to prep between rallies is unusually tight, but it is the same length of time we get to check and re-prep cars halfway around the Safari Classic Rally. As this car has previously done the Safari and the crew has exceptional mechanical sympathy, we’re confident that a great next rally awaits in Spain. ¡Vamos amigos!
