Around The World In 80 Days Motor Challenge

Bay City, Michigan

Once again all tests have been cancelled. Concern over the amount of traffic in the forests is the reason. However, several Passage Controls have been added, so those who want to gain no more points must follow the route as written.

A tin toy Buick Woody, seen at the lunch break. - TW

The route took teams on several good unpaved roads through the Hiawatha National Forest southeast of Marquette. On the way to lunch, the route took them through the small town of Curtis, and just in time as residents were gathering on the main street for a holiday parade and traffic was heavy. An hour or so later and they would have had to wait for the parade to finish.

Once across the Mackinac Bridge (pronouced MAK-i-naw) between Upper and Lower Michigan, the route took the rally teams in a route parallel to I-75, and finally into Bay City. Several teams who have incurred way too many hours of penalty points, joined Ray Carr for a break from the rally with lunch on Mackinaw Island.

The Fiat Millicento was a casualty today. The Italian team has been suffering from rear axle problems and finally had a differential failure. They were on the flatbed for the better part of the day, but did not incur any penalties.

Removing the broken windscreen on the Brodericks' Mercedes.

Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts were ready when the Brodericks pulled into the parking lot at the Bay Valley Resort Hotel. They had two SL windshields, and a good thing they did as they cracked the first one putting it in. Once they got it right, it is nearly impossible to tell that the windshield had ever been replaced.

The Clemens/Rinkel M-B was up on the jack stands again, trying to locate the drivetrain vibration. it turned out to be loose bolts at the differential flange. They have been replaced and the car is running quieter again.

The Swiss team of Francois Chervaz and Shirin Azari in the Citroen Traction Avant 11B are quite noticeable, as they clean their car at every stop, and they are always dressed as though they are out for a quite drive in the country, he in a coat and ascot, she in a dress. They often have been known to stop for a picnic instead of the planned lunch stops.

	Shirin packs the Citroen for another day on the road.
	The Swiss team shares lunch with Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts at Poor Boy Restaurant in Gould City, MI.

Tim Winker