Syd Stelvio – Gaucho Trail Day 7: Foz do Iguacu to Posadas – 320km

Day five of the Gaucho Trail offered crews the first of four non-driving days of the rally, and a chance to fettle cars, and enjoy the beauty of the Iguacu Falls National Park, the largest waterfall system in the world as well as being officially designated one of the seven natural wonders of the world. With El Niño in full effect, there are currently over 6 million litres of water per second being pumped over the 2.7km length of the falls, an incredible spectacle and a privilege to experience. But whilst the waters of the falls poured tumultuously into the Iguazu River, downstream and over the border in Paraguay there were other tumultuous events unfolding.

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed a gap in reports, and whilst I ought to be reporting to you from Paraguay, I write this safely inside Argentina on a day that was never in the plan. It wouldn’t be a South American rally without encountering a bit of civil unrest, but the events in Paraguay this week that have seen the collapse of the Ueno Bank and the placing of the countries ousted President under house arrest for his link to the crisis, are extremely serious. It would be somewhat tone deaf to enter a country where many of the citizens have lost so much, in a cavalcade of beautiful cars, to use their roads as a playground for our adventure, it could be fairly inciteful and potentially dangerous. So, as we all enjoyed the beauty of the Iguacu Falls National Park on an unplanned extra day off the road, the organisation set to work to concoct a diversion straight into Argentina.

It was anything but an extra rest day for the organising team, as a Clerk of the Course Kim Bannister and HERO Competition Manager James Philips headed for the border at first light to piece together a route that would allow the rally to resume, and connect with the planned day 8 route, which should have been the day the event crossed into Argentina. Whilst that was happening, Melvyn Palmer and his team went to work on changing customs permissions and documents, to allow the cars to enter Argentina early, and through a different border crossing, as well as engaging with the border teams to ensure a smooth passage. The route was created, with two regularities, and new roadbooks were completed late in the evening of day 6, before the field headed to the border early on day seven, and by 09:24am all of the crews had entered into Argentina, with everyone out of the MTC, and the day fully underway by 10:10. Victory from the jaws of defeat.

It was set to be a good day on the road as well, with beautiful sunshine for most of the run, a real treat after some incredible electrical storms over the previous 24 hours. Argentina is a country of contrasts, and here in the North East of the country the scenery was looking more Brazilian than Brazil had been. The Northeast also has the highest poverty rates in the country, and this was clear looking out of the window. In some cases, people were residing in little more than shacks, and the majority of dwellings in the larger villages and towns were modest, often of rudimentary construction and tin roofs. The people along the way though were extremely amicable to our presence, as we found out at the mid-point of the day, at a time control in Garuhape, as the townspeople gawped at the cars and posed for photos, as crews engaged with them and indulged their enthusiasm. Interactions like this are one of the things that make this sort of adventure so special, and indeed humbling, especially so with the reason for our detour.

There were lots of spectators on the route as well, at one point in particular as the cars took on a treacherous crossing of the Arroyo Piray Guazu River on a concrete bridge that had seen better days. The waters of the river were high, and rising, with waves breaking over the concrete sill of the bridge, threatening to engulf the single lane crossing, something that would no doubt have become science-fact not too much later in the day, though luckily everyone was safely across before then.

Both regularities would be dirt track affairs, on gravel backroads between forestry. Indeed, the first of these had sections that were straight out of the forest stages of the UK, and we could easily have been taking on Kielder, Dalby or Clocaenog. It was short, and mostly followed one path, but with tracks heading off the main drag any slight misunderstanding of the tulips could easily lead to disaster. Georgia Clyndert was a victim of just such a mistake, directing Father Bill (that’s Georgia’s dad, rather than a member of the clergy) down a wrong slot, not that Bill seemed to care a jot, adamant they should just be enjoying themselves and taking it all in.

Bill and Georgia have a few pots between them on these things though, so don’t underestimate their competitive side, and indeed there are plenty of others of a competitive bent on the rally too. Peking to Paris winner Andy Buchan could fit into both camps, and rallying here with daughter Rachel, he would probably tell you they’re both out to just enjoy themselves. But congratulations must go to them both, as they were the best of the field on the first reg, with Rachel navigating them to a penalty of just 1 second over the 10km run.

Reg two was a more challenging affair, taking place over 20km and with three timing points for crews to be judged between. It was a fun drive along the gravel tracks of the farmland and woodland near San Ignacio, that crossed the tributaries of the Parana River in various places. Care was needed in a few spots, with some rough elements and there were also some very soft verges to avoid, as well as parts of the track where the going was soft to heavy for our Iron Horses, and the regularity was slowed to 30kph.

In fact, there were a few speed changes to be mindful of during the reg, an element that seemed to have caused a bit of confusion between the two crews of the brothers Dreelan. First Tommy Dreelan and George Barrack appeared hot on the tail of Andy and Rachel Buchan and then close behind Mike Dreelan and Bob Pybus careered onto the same stretch of dirt setting purple sectors in pursuit. Perhaps Tommy had stolen Mike's sweets, or Mike was trying to return some lost property to Tommy, or maybe on the bumps they had mis-read the speed change and thought they should now be averaging 400kph, instead of 40. Whatever the reason, they both arrived at the next control well ahead of their planned times.

It was a tricky reg, and they were not the only ones to be early, or as many were, late. Having the absolute best of the gravel though were father and son, Cole and Kevin Bradburn, and Peter and Louis Moreton, who each registered just 3 seconds of penalty over the distance. In fact, Peter and Louise would achieve the best result of the day in the Rover P6, with 7 seconds of penalty, the only crew in single figures. Overall, Nigel and Sally Woof are still atop the leaderboard in their Datsun, with Stephen Hardwick and Ian Riley now in second, also in a Datsun. Filip Engelen and Anne Gillis have broken up the 240Z party in the top three, as they are now in third place in their Porsche 911. Richard Walker and Faith Douglas are still leading the vintage category, with 20 seconds added to their score at the end of today.

Tomorrow the rally will be back on track and back on the planned route, but I’m sure all will agree that today has been a great day in spite of everything. Until then.

Syd.