On site at the Ennstal Classic 2011 - the marathon
07/16/2011
The dog had nothing to do yesterday (explanations in the blog entry from July 13, 2011), the weather started out wet and it would take until the afternoon for the open crews to finally dry out, only to get a little wet again in the evening due to renewed wet phases. But that didn't dampen the fun.
The Orange Marathonwas 512 km long, so naturally some problems could occur, even if people and technology worked perfectly. Keeping to the target times and timings can be made more difficult by a number of challenges, as could be observed.
Cows can suddenly step onto the road and not clear it even after persistent coaxing.
The railroad barrier can close for several minutes and only open the road after a long freight train has passed.
Even if the engine holds its water without any problems, the crew has to release theirs from time to time.
Engines demand attention and a sip of engine oil here and there.
Participants can miss the end of the hidden time trial (open window) and unintentionally delay their "pursuers" because they slow down considerably before a fictitious time measurement.
Despite all these potential difficulties, however, two teams managed to accumulate fewer than 1,000 penalty points before the final stage. Both teams drive a Dino 246 GT, one in yellow and one in red. The Italian hot hatches have obviously survived the almost 900 km so far without any problems. Victory will therefore only be decided today at the Chopard Grand Prix, so it will be interesting to see.
