DD - Flipbook - Page 22
28 June to 10 July 2026
Day 11
Balestrand to Geilo (366km)
9 July 2026
As it’s the penultimate day, the 48-hour car crew came back to the fold this morning. Dick Appleton
and Paul Heal have had a pretty quiet rally, but today they proved their worth, as a slew of amendments
and alterations landed on the crew’s breakfast tables thanks to a series of roadworks and construction
traffic on the afternoon route.
Text & photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Design: K-Design
Jessica Morgan and Nick Trahair, 1964 MGB
The day began quietly enough, and we mostly ran to
schedule, boarding a ferry 9km from Balestrand for a tenminute crossing to Hella. This seaborne shortcut delivered
us to the Driftingbana Kaupanger Test, for two laps of fourwheeled fun on an authentic and rustically charming track.
There was plenty of rubber on the track before we arrived
and we did our very best to leave a bit more.
As soon as the chequered flag dropped and the clock
stopped, we weighed anchor and took a second ferry to
Fodnes. This was another short passage, and in ten minutes
the Rally took on as many snacks and as much coffee as
they could from the onboard kiosk before we rolled ashore.
A course was set for the Passage Control in Lærdalsøyri,
a town with a long history as a trading port thanks to the
Sognefjord bringing ships and their cargo deep inland.
We’d been at sea level all morning and, after a run
along the fjord, the road ahead rose sharply to the
Aurlandsfjellet. Known as the ‘Snow Road’ because, even
in summer, there are pockets of snow along the roadside
and in the surrounding hills. This high plateau marked the
highest point of the rally. With a gin-clear day the 1306m
Stegastein viewpoint, overlooking the Aurlandsfjord, gave
the crews the chance to take in the vista.
After the steep, narrow descent, a 7km series of tunnels
sent us beneath the mountains, emerging blinking into the
sunlight between each one. It was another stunning road that
headed towards Aurlandsdalen, Norway’s Grand Canyon.
By now the last of the ferry snacks had gone, but a light
lunch at the Time Control in Østerbø came to the rescue
and set us up nicely for two back-to-back Regularities.
www.rallytheglobe.com
