Over and outro. In which Doris waits for everyone else to turn up.
The fifth day of the event takes the competitors back to Yas Marina Circuit, where it all started about a lifetime ago. Because of the aforementioned problems with the length of time that Control needs to be active, the control team move to Yas on the evening after the fourth day is finished.
Sunset – last competitor chivvied out of desert – Elliot’s birthday map presented – speedy swipe at the dinner buffet and it is 2 ½ hours’ drive north back to Yas, followed by an extended period of setting up computers and networks in a room lit only by camera phone torches. Sleep, up and back to the room in time for the bikes to start.
Mifter Bat was delighted to see that someone was using the track for some single-seater racing work. Unfortunately the satellite tracking computers required an aerial to be placed out of doors, so the quadruple-level soundproofing of the room was severely compromised. I SAID..VAARROOOM… oh never mind.
The competitors’ route leaves them with over 90 minutes of road driving to do after they finish the competitive stage which means that for once – and only once – Control actually finishes before some of the competitors!
A parc ferme is set up just outside the control room awaiting the formal ramp finish ceremony which everyone in Control is looking forward to missing, swapping it instead for some much-needed bar time in the Yas Marina hotels where we are now staying.
Some final pictures. The finishing cars, bikes and truck.
A welcoming committee was convened for bike 140. He’d had a busy day, as we watched him go wrong, cut out a big bit of the stage, turn round and go all the way back, do the bit he’d missed and then do the rest of the stage all over again. The photo of his timecard tells its own story – the top bikes took 2h20m and our friend took 5h08m having started later and therefore hotter too.
Massive trailer trains are assembled to move the circus back home for repair and repreparation before the Rally Kazakhstan at the end of April, although this is popularly rumoured to be about to be cancelled. The yellow picture illustrates that a big truck needs a Really Big trailer, it was quite hard to get it all in shot.
Who won? We didn’t see any results at any point, and to be honest we’ve really only concentrated on the people who had problems.
It turns out that Stephane Peterhansel won the 1,500km, five day rally in the Audi T1-E class ‘electric’ drive car. Both Sebastien Loeb (BRX buggy) and Nasser Al Attiyah (HiLux) had big problems on the first day. Brit Sam Sunderland won the bikes on a GasGas (so good they named it twice). [Post event note from Doris: I have just found that we could have been watching the results and live tracker information here, how irritating.]
So long. I’m off to sit round the hotel pool with the medics and then drink some cold beer. Ian’s giving us a lift to Dubai airport in the morning and we will be back in Blighty before you can say “did I pack a spare pair of thermal socks somewhere?”