Rally to London – Day 3: From Mainz (DE) to Lille (FR), via Nürburgring (DE)

Still rallying to London!
The group is getting bigger. Today another 15 or 20 cars joined, first some at the Hyatt hotel in Mainz, then later at the AM Test Center at the Nürburgring. We’re now driving around with roughly 100 cars, so you can imagine the chaos wherever we go 🙂

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The route

This day is the only day we also have a real “Morning Stage” on our way to the Checkpoint location (as opposed to just blasting there guided by sat nav). A beautiful route following the Rhine towards Schloss Rheinfels in St. Goar, our coffee location.
After coffee, it was on to the Checkpoint and lunch stop, the Aston Martin Test Center at the Nürburgring, where a lot of new cars where waiting to join our convoy.
Next destination was the Hotel Barriere in Lille, France. This section started with a nice winding road through the Eifel, up to Prüm, then from then on it was highway all the way to Lille (not very exciting because of all the speed limits, enforced by lots and lots of speed cams…).

Route - Mainz to Lille

  • A = Hyatt Regency, Mainz, Germany
  • B = Romantik Hotel Schloss Rheinfels, St Goar, Germany
  • C = Aston Martin Test Centre at the Nürburgring, Germany
  • D = Prüm, Germany
  • E = Hôtel Casino Barrière, Lille, France

Total: 517 kilometers (321 miles).

Lining up for picture on the bank of the Rhine

The morning started with a photo moment. All cars where lined up in front of the hotel, right next to the Rhine. With so many cars, this obviously took a while, but it was totally worth it:

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Coffee at Schloss Rheinfels

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Lunch at the Aston Martin Test Center

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Driving to Lille

A long stretch of highway, of course including a daily fuel stop. Sadly the fuel stop ended in an encounter with two Belgian police officers. They did not agree with our friend’s temporary German license plates. After holding us for 55 minutes and after some heated discussions, they allowed us to continue our way.

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More photos of day 3:

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