The 22nd Palma Canaria Norte Rally

You may not believe this, until you live here, but you just never know what you are going to wake up and find on any given day - like that the end of your road is blocked off because a rally is going to be whizzing past all day, not more than 50 yards away - as I did yesterday, Saturday, morning.

Nope, nobody told us residents in advance. What if we'd had plans to go out? Had no food in the house? Or a medical emergency? Tough bloody shit!

Actually, I wasn't really complaining, because I didn't have plans, quite enjoy motor sports and see it as a distinct advantage when the news obliges and comes to me, but truly, the first I knew about it was when I saw these barriers being put across and a small van from TV Channel 6 at this junction.

We haven't had the rally come through the El Palmar valley for five years, so I was told (really was it that long?), but I clearly remember the last time. Then it had started before I woke up. In other words, it woke me, with the noise of cars and the dog, who spent the entire time barking and hiding, until I dragged her down to see that there was nothing to worry about. So, yesterday, I decided to take preventative measures. Fastened the dog's lead firmly round my waist, grabbed the camera and joined the growing crowd (about 20 people, but that's 19 more than one usually sees at once round here) of rally afficionados.

Oops, haven't quite got the hang of this motor sports photography lark yet. (This is after several shots of empty road, people's legs and bums.) You'd think they could drive past a little slower, so we could have the chance to get decent photos, wouldn't you? :)


These lucky guys can see a madwoman and a dog in their rear view mirrors!

And I will take a moment here to tell you all about the marshalling and safety on this rally. Maybe the bloke who put the barriers across had this job, but not so's you'd notice. I made sure I kept slightly more than a dog's lead length back from the line of the curb, but we were all the wrong side of the barriers, there were people sitting on the metal crash barriers, others walking across the road, along the side of the course - the road you see that has no pavements. In other words, totally uncontrolled mayhem, as is typical on these islands. :)


Getting closer! Hey, this is getting more like it!

YES! Finally, practice pays off and we get a whole car in the frame with no people or other obstacles in shot.

By this time, the dog had stopped trying to dash back up the hill every time a car came. In fact, she was just bored and eventually sat down.

The other spectators were definitely kitted out properly for the event. Did Fernando Alonso get his hair cut?

Maybe not, because he wouldn't have time to be here in Tenerife, while he was busy claiming pole position for today's Spanish Gran Prix.

We only stayed about an hour, but as I turned to come back up the hill, there sitting waiting for us, perfectly relaxed and laid back, not more than 10 yards from the crowd, the road, all the screaming rally cars ... were these two lads.

Their sister was there with them too. I think I can confidently claim to have the only silly CATS on the planet who chose to come down to watch a rally. :)

And, even after we came back up to the house, there was not one bark from the dog, until the marshall's car came past with sirens blazing to re-open the road at just before 2 p.m. Nevertheless, there were still rally cars coming down the road at getting on towards 6 p.m. I was told there would be a 100 or so.

The rally was mentioned in the local press on April 18, in Llegan el Palma Canaria-Norte y el Granadilla and, had I actually seen the news item before the event, I probably could have guessed that the second stage, Masca-Buenavista (15.3 km) starting at 10:53 hours would come right past the door.

The Rally Palma Canaria Norte has a website too and, for fans of the sport, there are lots of much better photos of the previous, 21st Edition here.

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