European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 17, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes longest rally August 1977 5 american entries join 60 trucks on 46day race from London to Sydney by Rick Maze staff writer Frankfurt Sis autobahn traffic around the International Airport Here was Jast a Little More crowded As about 65 cars in the worlds longest Road rally from London to Sydney passed through an Airport hotels parking on the third leg of a scheduled 46day Road the cars made a mandatory two hour Slop monday on their circular route from Amsterdam to the Brief break during Light showers was used by most Drivers for minor repairs in a Cov ered parking it also was a rest Stop for Drivers and who will travel what promoters Call some of the most Beautiful and forbidding terrain in the the sponsored by Singapore started sunday in London at covent gardens opera but not All o the 75 cars entered got race officials said some teams cancelled at the last moment because of internal problems or late arrival of their cars in others suffered mechanical troubles even before the prize the airline is offering in prize but that wont offset the Cost of some of the Many car manufacturers Are adding Cash to the finishers the first car to arrive Here was a West Australia entered control Point of Licals said the Mazda team arrived at about three hours earlier than necessary in the Early stages of the the cars left Amsterdam about after leaving Frankfurt air they headed for they should be in Athens about i thursday and in Ankara about officials one of the five american a Chevrolet Vega from new had not reached the control Point As other cars pre pared to leave for the officials members of another american team said they passed the Vega earlier in the Day and presumed it had mechanical it was the Only car that failed to Check in this stage of the teams lose paints if they take longer than allotted to arrive at the next destination but receive no extra Points if they arrive officials said teams that arrived before the deadline were Able to use the time to work on their still Early Bui most of the repairs Here were with mechanics Only adjusting already Fine tuned it is much too Early for anything serious to one pro Moter when a Peugeot dealer arrived in the garage with welding equipment to repair one of their members of another team Shook their and one Driver its much too Early for that kind of repair if this has happened to them what will happen when they hit the rough Many european car dealers had their service Crews on hand to help with repairs and american entrants said that might be an advantage for the european although american motors co entries have solicited help of americans living in Frankfurt that help included Many navigator Eric Hauge signals from one of the entries in the London to Sydney servicemen who own and Many spectators had difficulty recognizing which jeeps belonged to servicemen and which were entered in the two of three american jeep entries lost navigational systems during the second Day of these highly electronic which do the work of an computer and Stop Are used with a map to follow the an american motors official said the maps give the distance to the and with out the their teams arc guessing most of the loss of the system int serious in Europe while the rally Fallows major High but in Asia and Australia the system will be the official the Competition gets rougher once the route leaves Central in Yugoslavia the teams will undergo their first real time and officials said the allotted time will Lessen As the rally goes by the time the remaining learns reach the real Competition will an official american Brian Captain of the United states rally team and Driver of an american motors it has been easy so maybe too 1 am waiting for his Fourshee drive entry is outclassed by porsche and citroen on but it will be different once the roads gel Chu Chua cars in the rally Range from Factor pro diced Marathon machines with More but tons on the dash than a fighter Jet to a Stock diesel Mercedes Benz delivered to the Driver about two weeks before the Start of the the largest entry is a nine ton Leyland terrier with a remodeler front that resembles a reinforced Many of the teams have ground Crews racing to keep ahead of but some Are on their a Volkswagen entered by a British team is crammed with spare including a second the Driver we dont have a lot of so we Are carrying everything we might there is no one to carry die engine for so we made space in the Back it rests be tween a spare gear Box and a fire Extin the rules allow entry of any car that can be legally driven on the Road throughout the the rally has four classes for vehicles three for engine size and one for Fourshee drive the route basically follows one of Singa pore airlines main routes across 15 coun tries and three competitors from 22 countries Are Drivers said the first part of the Over european is considered although one car manufacturer with several cars entered said it is deceptively observers said the smooth roads can Lull the teams into the cars and teams Board snips three the first crossing was from eng land to the Netherlands then comes a seven Day passage from to and a five Day crossing from Singapore to a spokesman for the United states rally s4s photo by Pete Mulla team said even before the event the american competitors will be at a severe disadvantage As they have never been to and have scant knowledge about most of the areas they will travel he said most members of european teams Are More knowledgeable about these Corners of the the last 20 Days of the rally will be much Tike Baja California giving the american teams an Edge Over some euro although Many australian teams Are also very experienced in that kind of officials said they expect the trip across Afghani Pakistan and India to be hard and with Drivers pushing their cars to the but the promoters and team members generally agree the race will be decided in the last Miles in australian with the weaker cars thinned and the mean competitors the dust will be flying As thick As a kangaroos temperatures new yorkers enter on a shoestring Frankfurt Sis three new yorkers who quit their jobs to enter the longest race in motor sport history say they Are considered by their opponents to be slightly but they Are drawing lots of attention from spectators and other an american opponent and a favorite to Brian Treyve got to be crazy to just quit their grab the family car and come on Over to its not quite As simple As but the Gray Volvo station Wagon the new yorkers have entered does look out of place among the finely tuned vehicles entered in the London to Sydney race officials give the inexperienced new yorkers Little Chance of winning or even finishing the the Trio seems to realize but Doest openly talk about it int your Standard Marathon John of was a bread Jim originally of but now of new was a registered male Driver and team Captain John of owned an Auto body repair we have a shoestring to say the Ziagos he added that he bought the teams virtually Standard Volvo a couple years i it looks out of place in what promoters Call this race of during a Stopover Here most teams made Fine adjustments and but the new yorkers didst touch their car other than to pull out their razors for a shave and to change the shirts they had worn since leaving London on the car is running Fine right there int anything to Ziagos if the car Well fix Dragos l h 99 10 47 14 u 90 54 41 49 14 49 h to n 74 70 14 it 49 74 91 is 70 41 94 47 n 79 94 55 ii 12 75 u ii 74 19 71 91 74 42 71 49 14 42 77 70 90 u u 74 91 44 14 44 17 42 19 ii 44 59 47 92 40 44 m 40 57 77 41 12 41 74 ii 14 79 17 17 17 74 h n 95 19 74 Albuquerque Amarillo Anchorage a Sneville Atlanta Atlantic Civ Austin Baltimore Billings Birmingham bin Bozoo bunt Nam Burlington Casper Carlelle 71 41 74 Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus Dallas Al Worth Dayton Denver Desmornes Detroit of Luton Elpaso Fairbanks Fargo Flagstaff Hartford Helena Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jackson Jacksonville Juneau l h 41 n Kam Kiclty 71100 Las vegas 7192 ill Lerock 70 91 Louisville 75 17 Memphis n Miami Beach 7 91 Midland Odessa 51 71 Milwaukee 51 49 Paul 71 n net Wule new new York Norfolk North Piatte 71 95 Oman Machy 40 90 Omaha 72 92 Orlando 71 u Philadelphia n poems it 71 Pittsburgh ii 74 41 91 45 n Providence 72 m Raleigh 11 Raleigh 71 rapid City 47 94 Reno 74 91 Richmond 70 19 is Louis 15 94 Petersburg 47 91 Maitla Cecily 71 94 sen among u 71 Saa Otego 57 44 san Francisco 17 47 Marie 57 14 Seattle 40 70 Sio Falu 19 m Spokane 51 72 Syracuse 44 91 Topeka 79 ii Tucson 71 94 Tulsa ii n Washington 49 9 Wichita