RtG The Daily Dispatch - Carrera Andalucia - day 00 - Flipbook - Page 13
22 June to 3 July 2025
Day 7
Córdoba to Carmona (268km)
After the rest day we left Córdoba with a spring in our
step, it really was Easy Like Sunday Morning as we
climbed to a Route Check in the Sierra de Córdoba,
alongside a well-disciplined peloton of cyclists. At
29°C it was, in comparison to the last Regularity
of the day, merely pleasantly warm by the time we
reached the first Regularity to Los Jarales, which
wound its way through the Sierra de las Tonadas.
29 June 2025
Manuel and Irene Dubs, 1970 Excalibur Phaeton
David and Jo Roberts, 1959 Jaguar XK150
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
A crowd of rally fans had gathered in Villaviciosa de
Córdoba and, whilst the crews sought refreshment in the
Hostal Sierra Moreno, out came the mobile phones and selfie
sticks. Local social media was soon alight with hundreds of
images of these autos clasicos and autos antiguos taking
over their high street.
The cars were reclaimed from the crowd to head off to the
day’s Second Regularity, to Castaño. But first Roy Stephenson
had to top up his tank, with a jerry-can borrowed from Ean
Lewin. The route took in the beautiful Parque Natural of the
Sierra de Hornachuelos, where we ran alongside impressive
groves of nut trees, cherry orchards, fields of sunflowers
and the striking, pared back trunks of cork oaks.
The sun was at its zenith and Dr John Llewellyn and Pepe
Mammana’s Passage Control and “welfare checkpoint” in
Retortillo again saw the handing out bottles of chilled
water. For anyone with time to spare, the location of the
local river bathing opportunities was revealed. Tempting
as this offer was, however, the rally needed to press on to
Cazalla de la Sierra and the Time Control at the lunch halt
in the Restaurante Cortijo Vistalegre for a buffet of salad,
braised pork cheeks, patisserie and fresh fruit.
There was now only the matter of coffee and the final
Regularity to El Pedroso between the rally and the end of
the day. Both were served hot, with the last section of the
day seeing something like 43°C at times. The Organisation
issued a bulletin instructing the timing point marshals
to confine themselves to the shelter of their cars and
decreeing that any mechanical work was to be kept to an
absolute minimum.
Needless to say, the pool at the Parador De Carmona
was a popular spot for the crews when they reached the
night halt. An Andalusi palace, it stands on the ruins of a
14th-century Moorish castle and was once the domain of
Pedro the Cruel, the tyrant who imprisoned his father’s
mistress before Pope Urban V excommunicated him for
crimes against the church.
For dinner we enjoyed a hearty dish of local chickpeas
with spinach and veal, followed by a white chocolate panna
cotta and a selection of local wines, such as a Barbadillo
from Cádiz, our destination in two days’ time.
www.rallytheglobe.com
