After departing Cusco at 4.30 am, we drove high into the Andes to get a good position on the spacial stage, before officials closed the roads at 6am.
We found a great place at about 3,500m where we could look down over the first few miles as the cars were climbing, on a great corner with great views.
When the sun came out over the mountain it was all change form thick down jackets to just a T-shirt, instantly, followed by Factor 40 sun block.
We heard on the radio that the first car was away at 8am on the dot (Rare for Latin America) & only a a couple of mins later we could here it booming round the valley.
As it rounded "our" corner it must have been doing about 60 Mph, with a drop of several hundred metres just a few metres away - impressive stuff.
There have been many fatalities on these events, as one mistake here & there no trees to stop you like on the UK rallies, its al the way to the bottom.
