RTG Highland Thistle Daily Dispatch - electronic - Flipbook - Page 8
Day 3: Skeabost to Achnagairn, 5 September 2021
RESCHEDULED TO 2021
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Nigel and Sally Woof with their 1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint
David and Jo Roberts, 1963 Triumph TR4
Following Bracadale a reprise of the airfield Test was
up next and it offered a chance for some of the crews to
redeem themselves after yesterday’s visit to the runway.
Jim Smith and Rikki Proffitt once again set up a holding
pattern on the apron. After being cleared for takeoff, the
cars spooled up their turbines and roared down the asphalt
to see just how quickly they could hit V1 and retract their
flaps.
A Time Control in Kyleakin, just under the mighty road
bridge, prefaced our return to the mainland and the next
Regularity at Plockton. This was a tricky map based section
through thick woodland over some very broken roads. It
quickly saw the navigators reaching for their magnifying
glasses, whilst keeping one eye on their stopwatch and any
roadside clues which were passing by in real time.
The wide and smooth main road at the end of this
section was as welcome as a visit from a long lost friend,
but it was short lived, for the next section very quickly
(and literally) reared up in front of us. The Bealach na Bà
or the Pass of the Cattle is, at 626m, the third highest road
in Scotland and one of the steepest in the whole country.
Through its hairpins and steep ramps the rally made its
way to the Applecross Inn, way down on the other side, for
a well-deserved and hearty lunch of fish and chips on the
seafront.
The afternoon proved to be as awesome as the morning
with the incredible coastal road sweeping up the Inner
Sound and along Loch Torridon. Leaving the coast behind
us we bowled onwards into Easter Ross and the softer
landscapes around Dingwall and Strathpeffer. Here a Time
Control allowed us to regroup before a Test around the
Black Isle Showground and the last Regularity of the day
through The Aird, which finished almost on the doorstep
of the night halt.
The Achnagairn Estate is our host for the next two
nights and this evening we enjoyed a fine dinner in the
magnificent vaulted ballroom of the castle.
Gerardus Mercator, Dispatch reporter
Gavin and Diana Henderson with their 1939 Frazer Nash-BMW 328
www.rallytheglobe.com
