Day 10: Day with the petrol-heads.
Soutpiel Safari
John & Jenny
Sun 14 Nov 2010 16:34
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Day 10: Sunday 14 November 2010. Casa Rurales at
Castellar de la Frontera. Distance driven 1 km
We had a very snug night in our roof-top tent with
no wind, only a number of parties with loud music to disturb us. To be
frank, I was aware of the noise on and off to about 3 am but can't really claim
that it stopped me sleeping!
Day visitors started arriving before first light and we
were soon hemmed in by 20+ cars in our little camp space. Police and
Guarda Civil soon arrived and the road was closed from 0830. No sun
today, just overcast skies with a forecast of rain later. Soon there were
thousands of spectators lining the track and perched at every vantage point,
even on rocky crags. The breakfast tables and the beer came out and the
party began.
We watched 3 sessions of hill-climb, all pretty fast and
furious. The cars were all small SEATS, Peugeot 305s, Renaults 6s, a few small
Fords but all incredibly souped-up. The noise was unbelievable, a lot of
rubber was left on the road and there were a few grazes with the rocks at the
side of the road but no real crashes.
During the events we meta German lady, Ulla, and two of
her sons, who was a former hippy and a local resident of the small village by
the castle for 25 years. We ended up renting a room for the night from
her, within the castle walls - a true Casa Rurale which we had been
searching for the evening before. It has wonderful views but the photos
will have to wait until tomorrow as it is raining now.
To complete out motor sport day we watched the final 15
laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the hotel cafeteria, with a lot of
disappointed Spaniards seeing Alonso fail to win the title.
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