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The Otago Boys' High School Foundation

PO Box 11,
Dunedin, New Zealand

Tel +64 3 477 2546
Fax +64 3 477 5468

Dippie's Andean antics

30/05/2006

Allan Dippie (1978-81) - rally ace! (Photograph courtesy of the Otago Daily Times)

Allan Dippie (1978-81) will have some stories to tell when he returns to New Zealand, having just completed an 8,000 kilometre car rally across the 'roof of the Andes'.

Allan and his co-driver Ian Begg have finished a creditable fifth of 25 starters in the inaugural La Carrera Sudamericana, which raced through Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, following the route of the famous Fangio race sof the 1940s and '50s. Only 16 cars finished the 21-day event.

Driving a Toyota Corolla and contesting the 'C' class, Allan travelled for much of the race at altitudes higher than 5,000 metres and on roads and mountain passes said to be dicey at best. However, there was an upside - with rest days he and the other crews were able to visit the lost city of the Incas at Machu Picchu in Peru and Bolivia's La Paz, the world's highest capital city.

With floating cars on rafts across lakes, spending time airborne, helping other crews negotiate their way through borders having had their passports and cash stolen, and ever-alert to the prospect of bandit gangs, the last three weeks have been an adventure of epic proportion.