Can the love for The Falcon get any better than this? I know F1 pit-girls' days are over but what can one do when lightening strikes?
This weekend was the Rhino Charge briefing where each team had to submit 1/3rd of their donation, collect a competitor bag full of stickers etc for the car, a medical bag for the Charge and find out roughly where on earth (or in Kenya anyway) we are going in 3 weeks time.
The Clerk of the Course, David Lowe, told us that we are going to be given directions via email on Tuesday 29th May that begin in Narok town, which is 3.5 hours drive on tarmac north-west of Nairobi. Rumour has it that the off-tarmac will take the same amount of time so we have a 7-8hr journey just to get to the Rhino charge entrance!
The Rhino Charge has a mobile App, available on ITunes etc and it not only has lots of information but also a live satellite feed of where the cars are located during the Charge - worth downloading if you want to follow the event. Hint: If the dot does not move for a long time, the car is B-roken!
Lots of emphasis around safety, medical, local community etc more of which we will share. Perhaps more interesting was David Lowe's emphasis on off-road rules which got him the first ovation of his C-o-C career. We can expect more info later in the week but he was clear that the days of taking the roads and getting a decent placing are coming to an end.
We acquired some tyre gunk that fills the inside of our tubeless tyres with a green foam mix and if a thorn / nail creates a hole then the mixture immediately expands to fill it. The demo with a hammer and nail on an inflated tyre had me reaching for the wallet.
Practise, practise, practise
We also found some time the following day to head into the LuKenya hills for another test-drive. Not quite the forecourt experience of a new car purchase but very worthwhile. Unfortunately the German called in sick after a night driving the porcelain bus - he won't eat ice cream again.
We discovered, as you can kinda see in the picture, that our shock absorbers are too short. Not only will they restrict the Falcon's articulation but at extremes will break and then hamper progress. So, back to the wallet.......We also discovered a few minor solvable issues like braking, a leaking fuel breather, exhaust pipe mountings, electrical dials etc. all of which will be attended to next week.
With all the emphasis on safety, we are replacing the worn and torn original Range Rover seats installed 33 years ago for some worn and torn Subaru seats instead.
Driver headgear is another new safety requirement along with x4-point harness and fire suppression systems.
Need I say more?