Bulletin 28 (Day 42) - Almost there

Friday 17 October     Uberlinden to Reims     565 kms

A short run westwards to the Black Forest, a steep descent to Frieberg onto the flat plain of the Rhone Valley and the final border crossing into France. Riquewihr, a beautifully preserved medieval village in the Alsace wine region provides an ideal lunch halt before the final Voges mountain range. After the Col de Bonhomme it is downhill all the way to the heart of France's champagne country.

Although today's run was long - 565km/351 miles - and ran through spectacular scenery in the Black Forest (Germany) and the Vosges mountains (France), the schedule was easy enough, and almost every healthy car made it through to the champagne capital of the world without further penalty.

As it has been for the last 19 days, the position at the top of the Classifications remains stable. There where no changes at all in the top 35, and below that there have only been minor changes of position.

This means that with only 175km/109 miles to go (and less than four hours of actual driving) Phil Surtees' Willys Jeep leads Ted Thomas' Ford-USA Club Coupe by four minutes. Interestingly, all three Iranian Peykan Hunters look likely to finish in the top ten.

The 'Leading Lady' driver is Carolyn Ward, in the Land Rover, in 14th place, the Leading Lady co-driver being Paula Broderick in the Ford Anglia Estate in 6th place.

The last information received from mobile Rally HQ suggested that the first cars will arrive in the Place de la Concorde, in Paris, between 12.00 and 13.00hr tomorrow.