After an arduous journey by sea and land from Trieste, the trucks carrying essential infrastructure for the Jordan Rally began arriving at the Dead Sea service park location shortly after midnight on Wednesday.
Some of the 37-strong convoy had been delayed at the port of Haifa while paperwork was arranged, but the rally organiser liaised with the Israeli embassy in Amman to extend the opening hours of the border with Jordan beyond its usual 21:00hrs cut-off.
Upon arrival every team faced a race against time, condensing a set-up job which usually takes days into just a handful of hours.
“Our cars and Ford’s were flown in because with Portugal, this and Sardinia being so close, flying the cars gives you one or two days more in the workshop,” Citroen Racing team manager Sven Smeets told WRC.com. “But they were in flight mode so the car was completely lowered to the bottom, the shocks are completely different, so once the trucks arrived it was about three hours work to get the cars ready for scrutineering. That was our priority.
“Normally we arrive on Saturday and start to build up on Sunday, ready for the boys to arrive on Tuesday to work on the cars. But then it’s just the truck drivers doing it - six people.
“Last night the trucks arrived at about 1.30 and we had about 12 people unpacking them and setting up the paddock, giving preference to everything to do with the operation of the cars. The hospitality will be built up during today [Thursday] and be ready for tonight.
“They have been working non-stop since the trucks arrived. It’s a big rush and not the way we usually work, but it’s been a big performance from everybody to get the service ready in just a few hours.
“I’ll be very happy when I can send them to the hotel tonight for a sleep of 12 or 14 hours because they’re very tired. They had about five or six hours in the port doing nothing but there was nowhere to eat, and when they picked up the trucks they didn’t stop anywhere, they just drove. When they arrived here they hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so at 1.30 I had to ask the hotel for room service and I brought it here...”
Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team’s trucks arrived at 02:00hrs after some delays with visas at the border. They were received by a 25-strong crew who started unloading, with the rest of the team arriving at 04:00hrs to start build-up. The service and hospitality areas are largely complete as of 11:00hrs today (Thursday) although the hospitality area has no floor.
“The team has come together to work extremely hard during the night and we’re now in a position to run shakedown this afternoon,” team principal Malcolm Wilson told WRC.com.
“The facilities are not as comprehensive as we would normally have but under the circumstances our boys have done a fantastic job. To build a service park overnight is a huge task, and not one we would like to undertake again, but we’re here and we’re ready to go.”
Thursday’s delayed Shakedown test runs between 12:30 and 14:30. After that, the drivers will make the 120km journey to the historic city of Jerash for the ceremonial start at 17:30.
Credit: World Rally Championship (www.wrc.com)
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