Today was the first time that I drove the Citroen since 2013. The stiff steering and old brakes took a little getting used to, but it felt good to be back behind the wheel.
Mario interpreted his new navigator role as back seat driver. He was so caught up with giving me useful information such a when to shift gear, slow down or speed up that he forgot to check where we were going. Men really can’t multitask.
Today was a fast day with lots of track to cover in little time. The timing was so tight that we hardly drank any water to not have to take toilet breaks.
I was making good time when I overlooked a rut and caused the car to ground a little too hard. I kept going but struggled to accelerate, pushing the pedal but little would happen. I stopped the car, Mario got the toolbox out and took a look under the bonnet. The throttle linkage had detached.
Within 10 minutes we were back on the road but this time Mario was driving. The final stage leading to our hotel in Ulaanbaatar was 50km long. However, due to roadworks, the organisation had created a new route which was 40 km longer.
We ended up giving the original route a go, mainly because I couldn’t figure out how to navigate to the new one. It ended up being the right decision though as we made it back to the hotel hours before many of the competitors. The car also started to play up in the last kilometer so we were able to nurse it home. Good thing we have a rest day tomorrow to figure out the problem!