RTG Hanoi Daily Dispatch - for website 2 - Flipbook - Page 19
27 January to
23 February 2024
Day 10 Nakhon Ratchasima to Mae Sot (576km)
6 February 2024
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Jeff Urbina and Chris Pike, 1972 Porsche 911
less than two weeks have passed since Burns night
and today we found ourselves driving through one
of his most famous aphorisms. that the best-laid
plans of mice and men - and rally organisers often go awry.
today we had the sweetest of routes planned, with two
off-road regularities and a test to break up our marathon
journey into the hills and the northern town of mae sot. We
were thwarted by the fields of sugar cane which dominate
this area. the harvesting machines, which cut and bundle
the acres of massive fibrous stalks, are big lumbering beasts
and are not to be messed with. on single-track roads they’re
unpredictable, hard to pass, have lots of spiky edges to
skewer the unwary and can do some serious damage to
a passing vehicle. as a result Clerk of the Course, mark
appleton, had to make two tough decisions today.
as well as a lot of harvesting activity through the first
regularity from sap tai, the 48-hour car had reported
rougher than usual conditions through the network of
tracks. so, whilst the timing was cancelled, it was decided
that this stunning little section was too good to miss and
it ran as a Passage Control. the rally regrouped at the sura
narai road time Control some 70km away and then sallied
forth towards the second regularity, the Farmers market,
along a narrow concrete track which, thankfully, was free
of almost all agricultural machinery!
as the day rolled on, and we took in the sights and sounds
of a thai road trip, the excitement built for the 4.5km Khao
thong test. this was a closed road, dirt piste, where the
landowner and villagers had turned out to watch the cars
roar away from the start and into the dust. sadly, not all
of the farm hands had read the memo and, with reports of
machinery moving between the fields, mark again had to
reluctantly run the section without timing.
once we’d cleared the fields a fast road blew the dust from
the chassis and led us to the time Control in the Bypass
Cafe in nakhon sawan where we enjoyed trays of thai food
against a backdrop of diggers and earth movers. there was
then just the matter of a brisk drive, via a Passage Control
in Wang Chao, to deal with before we arrived at the night
halt in the well-appointed teak hotel. after the superlative
poolside dining, the Food and Beverage manager showed us
why he’s thailand’s top mixologist, wowing the rally with
some enthusiastic cocktail theatrics.
www.rallytheglobe.com
