Journey’s End: Peking to Paris 2010

I spent the weekend in Paris, meeting Porsche 356 racer Steven Harris and WEVO top man Hayden Burvill at the finish of the 2010 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. The weather was cold but sunny, and the streets were lined with spectators, all eager to see these magnificent machines arrive after their gruelling 14,000 kilometre drive across Mongolia, Russia, Iran and into Europe via Turkey and Greece.

On the 10th of September, ninety eight cars left China. Despite the incredible torture doled out on these vehicles, as they crossed the Gobi desert and used worn-out rock tracks to cover thousands of miles, only twelve retirements are recorded on the official time sheets. I’d call that the best result.

Standing next to cars like the 1903 Itala and the 1914 La France fire engine (“converted into a sports fire engine”, as Hayden quipped), it is impossible not to be struck with absolute respect on a multitude of levels.

Firstly, there is pure engineering at work here. The La France is a vast motor carriage, running a fully french-polished wood cabin, and the biggest flywheel this side of a Kenworth truck.

Secondly, that the cars have managed to survive since their build date in such remarkable condition is impressive. Seeing a 1903 Itala start up and run through Paris traffic like historic flying furniture is an amazing experience.

Thirdly there is the fact that, of the 98 starters, the overwhelming majority were over 50 years old, and almost ninety per cent of the cars made it to Paris in one piece.

Finally, there are the competitors. Some rich, some not so rich, but all passionate enough about this event to take their often priceless motor cars, and subject them to the ultimate test which could have proved ruinous. Indeed for at least one car, it did.

Hayden Burvill, MD of WEVO Porsche

It takes a special kind of person to want to do this event. Committing 6 weeks of your life to the rally is one issue, committing a car worth many thousands of pounds is another, but then there is the time that goes into the preparation beforehand and the personal challenges that come out of it. There’s no doubt that the other competitors I spoke to at the prize-giving dinner on Saturday night were feeling all of this, in what they had learnt of themselves and the world they inhabit over the last six weeks.

My wife and I were talking about the Peking to Paris and endurance rallying in general this morning, while I was going through my pictures. “Would you do an event like this?” she asked. I hadn’t considered the question before, as the required budget is entirely out of my reach. Nonetheless, without a second’s hesitation, I replied: “yes.”

For car guys like me, and my colleagues at TwinSpark Racing, the answer couldn’t be anything else.

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