Vely, vely stlong engine ... from the Beijing-Paris rally
06/28/2013
On its way from Beijing to Paris, the long-distance rally also passed through Switzerland. A special stage on the famous old cobblestone Gotthard road called Tremola was on the agenda yesterday lunchtime.
The photo is deceptive, it wasn't a vulture (like at the Panamericana-Mexico 1952) that was to blame for the somewhat damaged windshield of the Datsun Fairlady Z (240 Z).
The Japanese team Iwasaki and Akiyama did a roll to the left in the middle of Mongolia in honor of all the fans. The "Z" looked a little crumpled as a result, but the co-driver said with a laugh: "Vely, vely stlong and good engine! We vely, vely happy to see snow"!
The car runs and the engine is good, so what does appearance matter?
However, the Japanese were quite cold on the Gotthard Pass and had problems finding their way in the thick fog and light snow.
"Whele is way Nufenen Pass?" From the road book, it was really not clear to a foreigner which direction to take here, Milan or Lucerne? I explained everything to them, but I wasn't sure if they understood. But in the end they disappeared with their Fairlady Z in the intended direction.
I met other teams, such as the Polish team in the Jaguar XK150 and the two French crews in the Peugeot 504 and Renault R4, later on in Andermatt in search of the Nufenen Pass. I would love to know how they found their way in the middle of China or Russia if they encountered such problems in well-organized Switzerland.
The exertions were written all over the faces of the participants. The interiors of the cars looked like pantries. The power-to-weight ratio had certainly doubled for some of the participants by now ...
