WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday we went to the World Rally Championship. This is a race that is held every year and is a race of time. It consists of 12 three-day events driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Each rally is split into 15-25 special stages which are run against the clock on closed roads - some in a city or town and some in the countryside. Each car has a driver and a navigator. The first 3-day race started in Ireland. The other races are held in Norway, Cyprus, Portugal, Argentina, Sardengna, Greece, Poland, Finland, Australia, Spain, and Wales. We drove 2 1/2 hours to a town near Sligo in Northern Ireland to watch the race. We left late, because at first we weren't going to go because I had come down with a terrible cold/flu that week. But knowing my husband wouldn't go without me, I consented to go on the condition that I would stay in the car. I took an extra jacket, a blanket, a book and some needlework and packed us a lunch. In the town right before our destination, we stopped to get gas and take a bathroom break. Much to our dismay, Ireland gas stations do not have bathrooms!!!???!!! My husband assured me that he had read on the racing website that they had portable toliets, so we proceeded to the racing site. When we arrived, we found we had to walk - oh at least a mile - to the site. We could hear the cars already starting to come - they're quite loud as they rev their engines and switch gears. Mr. L left me and went up on a hill to get a better look. There are no grandstands to sit in - you are out in the country at a designated spot that is roped off and has security guards and police so you don't go through the barriers. The spot we were at the cars would have to come down a hill and make - not a hard turn - but more of a jog to the left and then on. My only hope was to find a portapotty, which I immediately spotted. However, since the cars were already coming, I couldn't go through to use it, so stood by the front barrier to watch. You had to look fast, because they weren't there long. But all of a sudden, one car came and slowed down and stopped! The security guard went over to the car, which rolled down their window. Come to find out, there had been an accident and they wanted the security guard to make sure an ambulance was called. I got a close up picture of that car, but it is on my camera phone, and I tried to email it to myself, but obviously I don't have that feature. Anyway, pretty soon the police got a call saying that stage had been cancelled due to the wreck and some flooding on the road (it had been raining all day and we kept hearing about flooded roads everywhere), and the police took the barriers down and told all the people to leave because the stage had been cancelled and an ambulance was coming through and they needed to clear the area. Then I asked if I could go use the portapotty. The security guards response was, "Hurry along and be quick about it!" I felt like ASSURING him I would, since I had had a dire need to pee for the past 2 hours. ;0)
As I was walking back out, here came the ambulance. It had obviously gone in to the wreck another way but was coming out our way. I stepped aside to let it pass. Mr. L had already gone to the car and was on his way back to find me (I must have been in the "loo" when he came off the hill). I noticed so many people covered in mud. Some had plastic rain pants and coats and boots on over their clothes. I think the really muddy people were the ones who got there really early and sat on the ground to wait. On the way over, because of time, we had to make the decision of whether we should go to watch the actual race, or go on to Sligo to the racegrounds, where all you would see is the cars coming back in. Even though our stage got cancelled, we still got to see about a dozen cars come through. It was pretty cool!