Cima Racing : Home2Rome 2010: Day One: From BEN to the banks of the Ness

Day One: From BEN to the banks of the Ness

09 November 2009

Day one was always going to be the long haul day, coverin

g miles of motorway purely to get somewhere more interesting, as seems to be the case for most banger rallies. But before we hit the road, it was along the road to Ascot to meet up with the other teams at BEN's head office - could our competitors match the enthusiasm and inventiveness of the previous StreetSafari rallies, considering this event was altogether more 'corporate'?

Yes. Mostly.

Turning up behind our rivals from Poole Audi, jealous glances were witnessed once they caught sight of the four rings running up each side of our car. Hyundai turned up with a rare XG30, decked out to resemble (loosely!) a Rolls Royce wedding car, while Honda turned up with two cars, a Civic and a Prelude, with the entire team dressed as the Impossible Dream man - complete with moustaches, glasses and retro helmet.

Marshall Motor Group put in a number of cars, but bravest had to be Cambridge Land Rover, who turned up in a an old series 3 that lacked the ability to hit 60mph. That'll be fun.

Some bacon butties, some coffee, a quick photo shoot and a blast from our air horn (apologies to the BEN residents!) and we were away. We hit the motorway. Then, after a few hours, we were still on the motorway. Some more hours, some more motorway, and we finally hit Scotland! After that, there's just more motorway and then, finally, some mildly interesting roads on the approach to Inverness.

Sadly, we couldn't see any of it. One issue the Audi has thrown up is a lack of washer jets, so the road spray combined with darkness falling, means the picturesque parts of Scotland remain unseen. Perhaps we'll see something on the return leg...

Checking in to the Best Western Palace Hotel for the night, the bar was a welcome sight. Some dinner and drinks, then it's time to prepare for day two.

Mileage today: 568
Estimated fuel: 86 litres
Toll charges: £4.70