Simon Harris, 43, Peter Hark, 40 and Mark Ryder, 38, finished seventh out of 110 finishers in the Home2Rome event – but believe they would have won had they had a sat nav their Ford Sierra Sapphire.
“There is no doubt we would have won had we had a sat nav and we will definitely have one next time,” said Mark. “We were lost for four hours in Rome and would have had greater time for tasks we had to complete.”
Their first attempt at the marathon drive from Calais to Rome was also a financial success as they netted £1,500 in sponsor money for Macmillan Cancer Relief funds.
During the four-day challenge in the H-registered car the trio had to complete a number of unusual challenges. These included dressing up as cowboys and Indians in Venice and taking a train to St Mark’s Square – carrying a spare wheel – before a return by gondola.
Mark said that their interest in the rally had been aroused by its publicity at the StreetScene.com stand at an NEC car show.
“This was the sixth rally. We had not entered before and it was quite an experience,” he said. “We had no other problems, other than the car exhaust falling off before we started and we had to jack the car up to put it back on.
“But it was quite an experience – there were 130 entries from all over Europe and 110 completed the rally and we came seventh,” he added. “We are really looking forward to taking part again next year.”
The men drove 600 miles from Calais to Montelimar through Paris on the first day and then enjoyed the blast to Monte Carlo through the Gorge du Verdun on the second day. This stage leg also took competitors through the Monte Carlo Rally stages.
After a stopover in Menton the third day included the Venice challenges, before a short drive south to Sottomarina.
Entrants were warned by the organisers that the final and fourth leg could end early if their cars were ‘knackered.’
They headed down the A13 Autostrada and then the A1 to Rome for the eventual finish at the historic Piazza Navona.
