CAPE TO CAPE CHALLENGE 2000 - Report 4

Saturday 8 July
We have succeeded in surviving the first night of our non-stop drive and we are currently in southern Sweden looking forward to crossing the new Oresund Bridge from Malmo to Copenhagen.
David's driving stint took us onto the E4 which is the main road from the north to the south of Sweden. He managed about 300 miles on the tankful, again better than planned, although this is a much smaller range than most of the other Challenge entries. But after five hours behind the wheel we would still need to stop and have a driver change, and 2 or 3 minutes for a fuel stop and comfort break seems to be a small price to pay.
I took over at 20.00 on what was theoretically an easy drive down the E4 following signs for Stockholm. For most of the way it was twilight, for me the worst of light conditions, and the night did not set in till about 23.30. I also had to contend with some very heavy showers and dazzle from headlights on a largely single carriageway road. (NB I find dazzle more of a problem overseas on LHD cars than in the UK).
Concentrating on the road while keeping a constant eye on the tachograph is very difficult in these conditions, especially when tired, but I managed a full five hours before handing back to Neil at Soderhamm. While I slept in the back, David took over from Neil, who had not been able to get any real sleep in his rest period, and has driven from north of Stockholm. We stopped again for fuel shortly after six, just before we got to the shores of Lake Vattern. No sign of any of our fellow competitors for around 20 hours, but then if we are all keeping to the limits we should not see them.
John Dalton

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