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HEALEYS TO THE FORE...
After 2,400 kilometres of hot competition the Liège-Rome-Liège was won by the Austin Healey 3000 of Stephen and Alexia Schrauwen of Belgium, writes Roger D. Gale.
Young Alexia was on her first such event and earned the applause that she received at the prize giving held at the Grand Hotel Duca d'Este at Bagni di Tivoli in Rome.
The MkI Healey was seeded at 14, making an immediate giant leap from the outset, getting up to third by the end of day one after leaving Spa and crossing into Switzerland, getting lucky at the Casino complex of Amneville-lesThermes, four regularities and a final blast round the huge parking area surrounding the resort.
The Triumph TR3 of Claude and Daniel Boulange also from Belgium, led from the Healey 100/6 of Angus Laird and Tom Bishop, with an ebullient Eric Carlsson and Gunnar Palm smoking round in their 841cc two-stroke Saab 96, a single point outside the top three.
The final test of the day was reversed for the opener on the second day as crews headed for Oberstdorf in Germany. Three regularities in the massive forested region around the Col du Donon were tackled before crossing the Rhine at Erstein, with another regularity during the long afternoon as the rally briefly took in Austria before tracing the huge Bodensee lake, halting back on German soil facing the Austrian Alps. The Boulange TR3 held its own, Carlsson and Palm piled on the pressure, whilst Michael Darcey and Steve Hutchinson in their Austin Healey 100/4 coupe were poised to snatch third place, a feat they would improve on as the regularities became progressively more testing.
An impressive drive came from the very brave crew of the 1929 Bentley Tourer Le Mans, Paul Carter and Robert Ellis - either very brave or totally mad to hurl such a beast around the Alps - they were thoroughly enjoying the experience and held an impressive ninth overall and led Class B as the rally swept down the face of the Italian Dolomites that glistened in the evening sunshine to embrace Cortina d'Ampezzo and a test through Lago Ghedina.
The morning run back out of Oberstdorf was enlivened by a detour necessitated by an avalanche that removed rather a lot of the route Regularities over the Passo del Rombo, the Saint Leonardo Pass and the Mount Giovo/Passo di Pennes lay in wait before a respite in Cortina. A grand civic reception provided weary crews with the encouragement that they would need as another day dawned and the route headed down the tortuous Passo di Giau heading west for Bolzano and Merano and the passes of the famed Stelvio... except that there were not quite so many hairpins left on the mighty Stelvio; another landslide had taken away three near the top, necessitating a detour through Switzerland to reach the summit for lunch!
The Passo Gavia Tonale and Campo Carlo Magno lay ahead before the short ran to the Ferrari winter home of Madonna di Campiglio.
The Boulange TR3 still led, the Saab crew 26 penalties in arrears, the Schrauwen Austin Healey 3000 took third from the Darcey 100/4, Goetzl and Reuter also slotting their rare Healey Sprite Ashley Special ahead of the Brits, whilst the Carter/Ellis Bentley dropped back a little to 11th, but still dominated their class.
A long run down the Giudicarie Valley and two regularities opened proceedings on the fifth day, Paul Carter glad to see the back of this section having put the Bentley through many "five-point-turns" as he battled over some of the tightest roads on the rally, the route dropping down to the southern end of Lake Garda and a contrasting easy autoroute run down to another evocative lunch at the Ferrari 'Cavallino' restaurant at Maranello. A lunch midst the trappings of Ferrari's racing successes - Michael Schumacher items very much evident - prefaced the opportunity to lap the famed Fiorano test track, getting crews' spirits up for what lay ahead - a long hot tortuous series of regularities stretching from Maranello to the overnight stop at Firenze. Several cars had 'offs' on this section, damaged bodywork much in evidence. though overheating was the commonest malady, the 1933 Talbot 105 Brookland of Roger and Jill Hadlee amongst those older cars wisely cutting and running for the overnight stop.
The final day was still a long one, over 500 kilometres remaining to Rome, three hard regularities ahead of a lunch halt at the mediaeval town of Sansepolcro in the Appennines, described by the locals as the 'breasts of of Italy', a pleasant thought indeed as were undoubtedly the thoughts of the leading Triumph, who could surely taste the champagne. Sadly, by this time, the burbling Saab had departed the fray, lost water prefacing an engine failure, though the intrepid duo were at the finish to congratulate those more fortunate.
Before the finish, another excursion onto the racetrack at the Circuit della Molla was an option, the route earlier drifting past Assisi and onto the final regularity near the fittingly named - and staggeringly tortuous - mount Terminillo.
The fortunes of the Boulanges plummeted - a series of maximums dropped them down to 24th, cruel luck after their earlier able pace, though the Schrauwens pace had also deserved reward, their Healey MkI heading four versions of the marque, Darcey and Hutchinson runners up and only 10 points adrift, Angus Laird and Tom Bishop underlining the pace that they had shown from the outset and taking third overall from Belgians Paul Verbeeck and Raoul Van Looy in their Healey 3000 MkII.
Rounding off the top five was another British crow, the Jaguar XK150S of Roger Learmonth and Tom Coldicott who had steadily moved up the field from 12th on day one - indeed, this pair were the 'Best of the last leg'... a fact that Alain Defalle apologises for forgetting to mention at the prize giving!
The rally had taken crews from the Source of Spa, through the Ardennes, the Vosges, Alsace, Bavaria, Dolomites, Tuscany and Umbria, through fabulous landscapes and equally fabulous rally roads of pedigree. It will be a hard act to follow next year, but somehow Alain Defalle will manage it!
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