For the first Rally the Globe Marathon event, it was somehow fitting that we also have two maiden winners.Manuel and Irene Dubs who clinched the overall prize and first place in the vintage category, having driven around the world in cars of all shapes and sizes for many years. They have also enjoyed some notable success but, it’s their first win with Rally the Globe and they proved to be very popular victors. Other than a couple of minor mechanical hiccups, their 1940 Ford Coupe behaved impeccably and, with Manuel’s driving prowess and Irene’s mastery of the navigation they were the crew to beat from the very beginning.

By comparison, Ean and Alison Lewin are relative newcomers to the long-distance rallying game. After knocking on the door of the winner’s enclosure more than once – and with an agonising near miss for second place in Istanbul – today, they sealed the deal without recourse to the age of the car rule. And, with a neat symmetrical twist to this tale, it was Mike and Lorna Harrison who today had to settle for third. By way of compensation though, Lorna took an award for the best navigator. Both winners were obviously delighted and after soaking the rest of the rally with a couple of bottles of bubbly, began thinking of rearranging their trophy cabinets.

Manuel said that “consistency was the key to winning. We tried to stay on the same level every day whether it was a Test or a Regularity and this approach paid off. I like to drive difficult gravel roads through interesting scenery and with Irene’s navigational skills we make a great team. We’re delighted to take the overall prize – a first for us and to win the prewar category as well”. “When we signed up as members of Rally the Globe they asked me what I wanted to achieve and, I replied that I wanted to be at least one second quicker than Graham Goodwin, we have achieved that today and we’re very pleased”.

Ean and Alison couldn’t hide their delight either and said that since they began their endurance rallying journey with Rally the Globe way back during the Yorkshire Cloverleaf. They’ve had an amazing time, stating “it’s nice to get this win nailed down, we’ve done seven events now and we’ve been close a few times. To win the post-war category of RtG’s first Marathon event is absolutely awesome. This company takes you to places that you’d never get into otherwise, and Fred’s black book gets us into some amazing venues”

As well as the overall awards there were some discretionary prizes handed out and the Spirit of the Rally went to Tim Eades for never giving up and eventually bringing his son Patrick to fill the spare seat. The Against All Odds trophy was scooped by Brian and Catherine Scowcroft for getting their old Chevy to the end after an electrical fire, brake failure and several steering issues.

Finally, Fred Gallagher thanked everyone for being such good sports – and the winners for their few short words – and then reeled off a few statistics for us. “We’ve driven over 12,000km through three countries and across 38° of latitude and have seen a low of 4°c with a high of 44°c – and this morning in Anchorage the temperature was 1°c. Natural disasters set a few traps for us in the build-up to the event, but luck was on our side and despite the reroutes for the Canadian forest fires and the aftermath of Hurricane Jova, we only lost a total of 300km of the original route”.

Finally, as Tony Brooks and Simon Spinks have birthdays today we thought we’d organise a little get-together for them, a few friends with some nice cars, tucked away in a little hotel somewhere ….. many happy returns.