Day 1 : Home to Dover
Miles today = 317
Total miles so far = 317
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Just think, we could have been honeymooning on a beach in the Caribbean now, instead of
strapping ourselves into a tiny tin bucket for a fortnight of shouting "I said left at the
junction, not right" at each other. Wonder if we'll be divorced by the time we get home ?
Oh well, off we go. By the time we've reached the end of the street, the rear tyres have
rubbed away half of the arches, so we undertake an emergency weight-loss programme...
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Day 2 : Dover to Chalon-Sur-Saone
Miles today = 432
Total miles so far = 749
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An early start. It's nice to see other IJ Minis in the hotel carpark and reassuring to note
it's not just us topping the oil up already. There's a few more queueing up for the ferry
at Dover. Disembark at Calais - adopt crap Michael Caine accent for "Remember, in this country
they drive on the wrong side of the road". Stop for lunch near St.Quentin and bump into (not
literally) four other teams. Quick photo, then we all go our separate ways.
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Day 3 : Chalon-Sur-Saone to Nice
Miles today = 412
Total miles so far = 1161
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Mini at the Med ! We get horribly lost in Nice looking for our hotel, but a lovely French bloke in a
rally-spec Peugeot 306 takes pity on Sara's CSE Grade-U French and kindly leads us through the city
right up to the front door.
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Day 4 : Nice to Imola
Miles today = 363
Total miles so far = 1524
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Cruise through Nice and Cannes in the sun admiring the palm trees. If you haven't got a Lamborghini
or Bentley to pose in then a red Mini gets almost as much attention. Wind our way up the hills and
hairpins and back down again towards MonteCarlo. What a fantastic place - it's just like we imagined
only more so (if that makes any sense). We do a bit of the GP circuit but fail to find the tunnel.
Time's ticking on so we leave and head off into Italy. Where's the sun gone ? The coast road alternates
between long tunnels and impressive viaducts but the expansion strips are causing big trouble with the
tyre-clearance...
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Day 5 : Imola : Rally Day 1
Miles today = 54
Total miles so far = 1578
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First proper day of the Italian Job itself. Take the Mini for scrutineering - we've dumped all the extra weight
in the hotel room so no problems. Wander round checking out all the other teams. Some seem to be taking it a bit
seriously - dashboards full of timers and GPS systems. Muddle through the first few stages OK ending up at Imola GP
circuit for a lap or two. It's dark and halfway round the first lap the dash lights go out. A quick check reveals
no rear lights either but if we stop to fix 'em we'll lose our chance of another go. Do another two laps with lots of
unnecessary braking so the people behind can see where we are. We replace a duff fuse and return to the hotel.
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Day 6 : Imola : Rally Day 2
Miles today = 149
Total miles so far = 1727
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Blimey, we're 10th after the first day ! Maybe we'd better start taking it seriously ourselves ! But during the
first stage today, the dash and rear lights fail again. It's foggy so we stop to fix 'em (another duff fuse), but we still
arrive at the time control in plenty of time for the special stage. Which is a struggle as it's a tight U-turn and our
stupidly-fat wheels give us a turning circle of half-a-mile. Disappointed today as we've been to Modena, Maranello and
Sant Agata but all the supercars have stayed hidden. Probably scared of being beaten away from the lights...
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Day 7 : Imola : Rally Day 3
Miles today = 155
Total miles so far = 1882
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Disaster ! We're 1 microsecond late leaving one of yesterday's special stages and the resulting 1000000 penalty points
plummets us down to 38th place. Cheers Freddie ! Never mind, today takes us up into some mad mountain roads and
stunning scenery.
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Day 8 : Imola : Rally Day 4
Miles today = 14
Total miles so far = 1896
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Er, we had a day off. Sorry ! We desperately needed a rest so we had a nice lie-in listening to all the
Minis leave, then popped into Imola and had a picnic lunch sat in the grandstand overlooking the grid. Then we
came back and sat outside the hotel bar in the sun with a pint (sorry, 0.5 litre) watching all the Minis come back. Looks
like we missed some fun, but we needed some time to recover - have you noticed how you're still shaking an hour after you've
got out of the car ? Drop to 77th...
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Day 9 : Imola to Turin
Miles today = 251
Total miles so far = 2147
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Another early start and a trouble-free journey to Turin. We're the fourth car to arrive, so we wander off to see
the essential Italian Job landmarks, namely the big church with the steps and the famous weir. Then it's spotlights on,
airhorns blaring for the police-escorted convoy through the city. The local police manage to get lost (!) but eventually
we arrive at Lingotto, and head up to the famous track on the top of the old Fiat factory. Somehow we contrive to be
the first Mini on the roof and take off after the bellowing Astons for 5 scary goes at the banking.
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Day 10 : Turin to Colmar
Miles today = 328
Total miles so far = 2475
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Wake up in Italy. Head off through stunning scenery in the Alps and into Switzerland, detour briefly into Germany (just
for the sake of it) and emerge into France for the overnight stop at Colmar. The service crew are busy tonight and there's a
few empty places round the dinner tables...
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Day 11 : Colmar to Paris
Miles today = 357
Total miles so far = 2832
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We do 3 laps of Colmar trying to find the right road out but then it's trouble-free all the way into Paris. Well almost.
We take a wrong sliproad off the Peripherique somewhere and although we can clearly see the hotel, we can't quite seem to
get to it. Luckily we remember that it's OK to drive the wrong way up a one-way street if you beep the horn a lot and
shrug vaguely at any other drivers coming the other way...
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Day 12 : Paris to Ashford
Miles today = 223
Total miles so far = 3055
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Can you imagine what 100 Minis all waiting impatiently to get off the same ferry sounds like, if
they're all revving like mad, tooting the airhorns and playing 'Self Preservation Society' on the
stereo ? Mental. We blow another fuse abusing the horns - quickly replaced with a nail so it'll
never blow again... We're back in England so it's chucking it down, but the Kent police do a proper job
of shutting the traffic down and keeping the Mini convoy together all the way to the hotel. Then it's time
for tea and medals.
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Day 13 : Ashford to Home
Miles today = 282
Total miles so far = 3337
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Time for a few goodbyes in the hotel then set off back home. It's still raining. It's odd not seeing Mini's
parked up in all the service stations. Eventually the sun comes out and Team 40 manages to get past for the first
time in a week...
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