Day one of the Blue Print Rally - 23 teams comprising of 46 drivers arrive at ADL head office in Marden. The ultimate destination Lisbon in Portugal but today we start the teams off with a casual 240 mile drive to Cergy - just outside Paris.
Waved off by ADL Chairman Chris Jeffries and Sales and Marketing Director Simon Hutchinson the teams set of at 10am to make the short trip to Dover. The journey down was uneventful save for one team trying to book in at the wrong ferry terminal. (Mentioning no names - ahem the Lost Boys ahem)
1 hour and 20mins later the teams roll off the ferry in Calais. 30mins later the teams stop for fuel. 30 seconds later the offical ADL team car - The Blues Brothers notice that Elvis - their £202 Honda Legend - has decided to dump its coolant on the forecourt. Not a good start - especially with another 1800 miles to go! Some rad seal later the car is back on the road with Rob Head - ADL Marketing Controller - tentatively accelerating to motorway speeds. Thankfully the car held together - and with the support of the M.A.D Colts, A.W.O.L and Dazed and Confused on the CB Radio all the teams made it to the hotel. Thanks guys I don't know what we would have done with out you.
The two CAF teams (No Idea Won & Too) took a massive detour avoiding all the toll roads (tight gets!) and saw lots of lovely countryside managing to arrive at the hotel only 1 hour behind the rest of the pack. They even managed to find time for lunch and a water pistol fight!
