The Breslau Rally: Day 6, “Hannibal”

Sleep came quickly to those who had stayed up for most of the night preparing the vehicles for the Stage 5 marathon, but it didn’t last long. The cars and trucks departed at 6:30 am, and even though our teams were later in the starting order, they had last-minute checks to make before the start. Known by the name “Hannibal,” Stage 5 is over 500 km in length over varied terrain of sand, dirt and mud.

When everyone was underway, we broke camp and headed south 240 km to Zagan to set up again before evening. We’d be spending the day on the road and wouldn’t have a chance to see any of the 500 km Stage.

As we headed out we saw the signs of the heavy toll Stage 4 had taken. Many vehicles had to abandon the rally after suffering too much damage to repair overnight. Many cars were leaving on flatbed trailers and some stayed parked in camp, repairs still in progress. Our team was doing quite well; everyone had been able to start today.

It was raining when we reached the camp near Zagan, but the service crew quickly set up the tent and readied the tools in case repairs were needed once the drivers arrived.

We had to wait for over three hours before the first of our team made it to the camp. The day had been good. The route was long, but without any major difficulties they had few problems and made good progress.

The evening was relaxed since there was no need to work on the vehicles. We ate dinner together under the tent, and everyone went to bed around midnight with the prospect of getting a good night’s sleep; the briefing for Stage 6 wouldn’t be held until 10 am the following morning.