Gijón → Palencia

We left Gijón at 11:17, by the sea, and climbed through Sariego, Laviana and Aller towards the mountains. Up there it was foggy, with loose cattle on the tracks. At roadbook box 144 we took the alternative the organisers offered: 70 km of road instead of a very narrow village and a dirt mountain pass. We crossed the San Isidro pass at 1,527 m and came down through Boñar into the Curueño valley.

TC1 started on time, but we kept getting earlier, control after control, until we were at −39 s: 247 of the day's 289 points. TC2 and TC3 were a different story, 10th and 9th in the section. We reached León at 17:56, 65th of 117, with one clear lesson: if you don't fix running early, it grows at every control.

The full Stage 1 summary, in Spanish: map, replay and timed sections →

The longest day: 299 km from León to Salamanca. We left at 9:34 at 5 °C under a clear sky, crossed Astorga and went down through La Valduerna. TC1 started on time and, with Saturday's lesson learned, all eleven controls landed between −1 and +2 s.

In the afternoon, dirt roads and wine cellars dug into the hillsides on the way to Tábara, the Duero at Zamora, and the queue for TC4 among the wind turbines. No official control more than 3 s off all day: 63 points and 18th of 119, our best day. In TC3 we were 7th. We still ran about 2 s early through TC2 and TC4 and didn't fix it, and that's 50 of the 63 points.

The full Stage 2 summary, in Spanish: map, replay and timed sections →

From Carbajosa, just outside Salamanca, to Ávila, with six sections before lunch. TC1 was timed off roadside markers and slipped away from us bit by bit, up to +19 s: 70 points. Then came tracks with cattle gates we had to open and close, and a queue at the start of TC2, which began four minutes late.

TC3 came out almost perfect, twelve controls between 0 and −1 s. TC4 started right after TC3, with a cattle gate in between: opening and closing it, we lost our reference and didn't notice we'd already started the section. TC5, 10 km with six average-speed changes, was the best: 9 points over 29 controls. We had hornazo, the local meat pie, on the boot of the car, climbed into the sierra at 1,507 m through fog and horses, and reached Ávila at 17:01 with the city walls behind us. 26th of 115 and 46 zeros.

The full Stage 3 summary, in Spanish: map, replay and timed sections →

Our last day left Ávila at 9:11, from the same spot where Monday finished. TC1 was one of our best of the week: twenty controls between −1 and +2 s. Then a sandy track to Arévalo and a long, steady TC2, 33 controls nearly all between −3 and +2 s.

In TC3 the last hidden speed change was to 38 km/h and we carried on at about 31: from +15 to +61 s over the last controls, 253 points. In the afternoon we crossed the Valladolid pine forests, passed Simancas castle and pulled TC4 back after getting to +16 s. We reached Palencia at 17:55, next to the cathedral: 25th of 114.

The full Stage 4 summary, in Spanish: map, replay and timed sections →