Luke Anear and Allan Harryman experienced terrifying moments in a rally car when they skidded off the edge of a cliff in Spain.
Luke Anear’s car came close to falling 200 meters down a cliff in Spain. Photo of the World Rally Championship in New Zealand from September. PDO
Driving in the WRC 2 Open class of the rally Luke Anear and his map reader Allan Harryman got into a life-threatening situation a week ago in the World Rally Championship in Spain, DirtFish website write.
Anear, 45, and Harryman, 52, veered off the road in the middle of a special test, and their car was left swinging on the edge of the ravine in a chilling manner. A 200-meter drop opened below, and the car was only held in place by a rock stuck under the door frame.
Miraculously, the stone supported the car until the two drivers were rescued from the climb. However, the hour-long wait felt like an eternity inside the car.
– It was the scariest class I’ve ever experienced. I just kept thinking about if we were going to roll off the cliff. When the rescuers came, we wanted to make sure they didn’t touch the car rashly, because even a small hit would have been enough (to derail the car), Anear recalled to DirtFish.
– I kept my foot on the brake for 40 minutes, and my foot started shaking so much that I was afraid it would move the whole car. I lifted it calmly, but the gear was in the eye, so the car stayed put.
While waiting for the rescue patrol, Anear and Harryman had time to chat and get to know each other. They tried by all means to divert their attention from the dangerous situation to more pleasant things.
After getting up from the edge of the gorge, the two were already in a joking mood.
– Ari Vatanen always said that if you crash in Finland, you shouldn’t hit a tree, but if you crash in Monte Carlo, then you should hit a tree. Wood would have done, Harryman carved.