Where Eagles Dare… Day 6 Ulaan Baatar to Kharakorin

SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2010

Peking to Paris Motor Challenge update. More about the race here

Gerry Crown and Matt Bryson - Holden EH - took over the lead of the Classics category today

Rarely are rally-starts as bizarre as this. We all gather in large parade ground in the centre of town, larger than Trafalgar Square, for a grand send off. After months of planning by the town council, what could possibly go wrong?

The brass band lined up and just as cymbals clashed, big base drum banged, clarinets, flutes and trombones adding to the general oompah, the rare Anadol – a fibreglass car once made in Turkey with the help of Reliant, powered by a Ford Cortina engine, made its way down the main street of Ulaan Bataar. It was heading to the main square to be flagged away by the Mayor, crowds lined the roads, with several hundred spectators taking time out from their journey to work to watch the spectacle.

Then there was an added crash. The Anadol ran across a grill in the middle of the street, which promptly cracked underneath the car, and the rear wheels dropped down into the hole. Had this happened to a Bentley, or a Veteran, the big wheels would have laughed it off. But a 13 inch Minilite wheel falling into a 18-inch hole is an easy fit. The car’s rear axle now rested on the tarmac.

Above the sound of the brass band, the sirens of the fire-brigade hurrying through the streets to rescue a startled Amet Ongun, now worried that he might be collecting penalties points for being late for the Start.

Once out of town, we climbed steadily, and the morning sun burnt a large hole in the grey sky. We were heading for a long, dusty Time Trial, over 40 kilometres of bumpy strips of sand with tall grass growing up the middle, crossing a vast plain. The only company once off the main road was a herd of some 100 wild horses, who oblivious to the noise of approaching rallycars, made mobile chicanes by taking it in turns to gallop across the track, with eagles circling overhead. Drivers needed all their wits about them for this one. Several cars beached themselves struggling to traverse the high central mound, with an option of a different tracks suddenly emerging, testing times indeed for the navigator crouched over the Tulip route-book, Garmin GPS, and trip-meter.

Best time among the Classics Category was the Holden of Gerald Crown, the 72-year-old Ozzie Veteran with young Matt Bryson on the clocks put up a steady, consistent run to set a 25m29s time. Making up for its dramatic start back in town, second best was the Turkish Team in the now flying Anadol, with 26:16, pipping the Staples Junior VW Beetle Cabriolet on 26:33. Best in the Vintageants was the Thompson/Davies Chrysler 75 Roadster from New Zealand, who set a fourth-best time of 26:34, with the Clive Dunster Chevy Fangio Coupe 12 seconds behind.
Driving the Impossible

David and Karen Ayre achieve an excellent Time Trial result in their 1907 Itala

Generally smooth, with just the odd washaway to catch out the unwary, with long patches of soft sand, it had sufficient corners to suit the agile Alfa Romeo of Alastair Caldwell and Catriona Rings, who were 6th, with a time of 26:53. Among the pioneers, the 14-litre La France was well up the leaderboard on 37:22, and David Ayre’s Itala was on 37:38, a time good enough to beat a Volvo PV544.

Tonight, we are all in Yurts, the white round portable cabins made of thick layers of horsehair and cashmere carpeting which is wrapped around a basket-weave construction, we all have little log-stoves in the centre and a chimney with a generous hole in the roof. As darkness falls across this vast open plain at Bayanuur, a chilly air is rolling down the hillsides that flank this remarkable valley, and most of us are digging out of sleeping bags for extra covering on the camp beds.

We have dined out on bowls of chicken stew, lamb stew, rice, chips, bean salad, and a choice of two soups for starters. A lack of tables and chairs meant a crowded dining hall, with several crews sitting on the floor… the atmosphere is remarkably good humoured and rare does any rally experience such a united sense of camaraderie as this.

Batten down the hatches, and chuck more yak-dung on the stove. Winter arrives early in Mongolia, and we look like being in for our first freezing night.

What a difference a day makes… Day 5 Ulaan Baatar - Rest Day

SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2010

Peking to Paris Motor Challenge update. More about the race here

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One of many UB repairs - new engine bearings are needed for #49 the Chrysler 75 of Bruce & Ben Washington

The Peking Paris has taken a breather after the battering of driving the roads to the capital… a chance for most to catch up on much-needed fettling. The garages around the city have been busy, the Mercedes dealer had 15 cars, and one motorcycle, dominating the workshop floor this morning.

Who will re-start tomorrow? Answer: We are not entirely sure, but most seem satisfied that they are up for more punishment. Two are going to be left behind to await spares, the black Chrysler of Bruce Washington with big-ends gone needs parts flown in, and the big Austin Sheerline of Norman Brice needs a crankshaft flown in, and he intends to wait a few days for this and play catch up somehow. We understand the Holden of car 101, Cecil Bird, is also waiting for engine parts.

The rest are lashing things together, re-packing, and will be at the Mayor’s parade in the centre of town tomorrow morning. Even the tiny blue Renault 750cc 4CV that limped into here yesterday on the back of a truck and looked like going no further is sorting its fuel-pump issues and will be back on the road tomorrow.

Tim Scott was beaming this morning, up early and sorting out his problems with the FN motorcycle, and reckoned “nothing was as bad as I had first feared.”

The initiative and ingenuity of the Mongolian workshop mechanics has helped solve most of the problems.

The weather was bright sunshine when we entered Mongolia, but today has been cloudy, and there was a shower of rain early this morning. The worry now is that this might be falling as snow on the higher passes as we head deeper into Mongolia on our Westward travels. It’s been a welcome day off, a chance to do some washing, sort the car, and go shopping for emergency-rations and in-car supplies…what a difference a day makes.

The organisation has not stopped, no rest for them - it’s been a manic day for the sweep-mechanics, with Betty Banham marshalling together steadily growing list of demands. Heidi Winterbourne spent most of the day running constant battles with a lethargic hotel staff to badger them into a minimum sense of service, after a few crews arrived to find that their rooms had at first been sold on to locals. Few see the cracks, however, and the spirit remains quite remarkable.

We are now off to a cocktail party with two hours of free drinks – that should ensure we start tomorrow morning with thick heads.

Bunfight at the OK Coral… Day 4 Sainshand to Ulaan Baatar

SEPTEMBER 13TH,

2010 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge update. More about the race here

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Day break at the Sainshand campsite

After 400 kilometres of gut-wrenching, storm-damaged dirt tracks yesterday across vast open plains that stretch as far as the eye can see, most crews pitched their tents early, to collapse into deep sleep… oblivious to a stunning night sky with a crystal-clear Milky Way stretching immediately over our heads.

Another day on the road beckons for more of the same. Dawn breaks over a biblical scene of little tents, with donkeys and goats munching inquisitively around a Bentley on the edge of our “OK Coral” and crews emerged from their tents this morning for more punishment and the final run into the Mongolia capital of Ulaan Baatar. In this chilly morning air the local marmalade spreads with the texture of axle grease. Fried eggs sizzle on a hot plate, and the band of happy-campers are tucking into the reinforcement of a good hot breakfast, including porridge with honey. All carried by a dozen chefs in on the back of Unimog trucks specially for us.

Ahead, the first 200 kms is all on dirt, but, thankfully, a lot of it has been graded dead smooth, with just the odd pot-hole, what blessed relief after the deep rutted sections yesterday that resembled something out of the Dakar or East African Safari.

There were three Time Trials this morning, totalling 90 kms. Many had made overnight repairs, but it’s quickly settling down as a rally where good preparation makes a crucial difference to the results-sheet.

The last part of the day was an easy run across wind-swept prairies that look like something from the film-sets from a Garry Cooper or John Wayne Western. Lee Vincent, what sort of cowboy name is that, he must have played the gangster when he was nine years old, is manning the last checkpoint of the day at a petrol station where all crews fill up – having pre-paid for their fuel we have designated fuel-stations that have received a top-up from our travelling tankers leap-frogging ahead of the rally.
Driving the Impossible

Jo and David Roberts - Sunbeam Alpine

The frenzy around the pumps is a buzz of stories from the string of Time Controls with navigators swopping times to discover who set what time. The Police scoop up cars in bunches of ten, and escort the crews through the streets to our hotel. One driver who clearly can’t stand getting in line drives right past the gas-station and waves… and in so doing, waves goodbye to a Gold Medal. To claim a Gold Medal at Paris, you need to clock in at the final checkpoint each night.

We have a day off tomorrow – but already crews are seeking out the blacksmiths who will work long into the night, with a job list that includes the welding up of petrol tanks, grafting truck radiators into cars, fixing exhaust mountings, patching up engine and gearbox mountings. The local Mercedes dealer has never seen his workshop covered in so many springs and shockabsorbers that have come away from broken mountings.

Too much red mist, too soon? Considering that Andrew Cowan won two London to Sydney Marathons without once setting a fastest time, one wonders what state our cars will be in by the time we hit the gravel sections in the hills of northern Turkey. Steve Hyde in the Chevy is on his second set of shocks, but is at the top of the Vintageants. Gerry Crown and Matt Bryson are near the top of the Classics Category classification, Garry Staples and Son Ltd have booked themselves into the top-dog slot with their pair of softly-sprung VW Beetles.

Among the Pioneers, Max Stephenson in a Vauxhall, and David Ayre in the venerable 1907 Itala, are going great. Daniel Ward, in the Lancia Theta, that rides the ruts better than just about any car on the whole event, alas is stricken with a broken stub-axle, but that’s no big deal, there’s a steam-train museum in town that could fix that overnight.

David Roberts, in the open-topped 1953 Sunbeam Talbot Alpine, said goodbye to us here in Ulaan Baatar when he was on the 2007 event as he reckoned the conditions so severe, he took himself off for a long detour of Siberia before catching up many weeks later. Three years on, he is back, passing on his wisdom of the hard-won lessons of experience. He is in the bar looking happy that the Sunbeam this time looks like continuing for more of Mongolia… he sounds like an old war veteran as he commiserates with the rookies over their stories of broken suspension and broken radiator mountings.

There is a wonderful atmosphere in the bar tonight, which looks like being drunk dry… understandable, perhaps, with so many parched throats in need of as much repair as the machinery lining up at the blacksmith’s hut down town.

Mongolia… Competition at Last! Day 3 Erenhot to Sainshand

SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2010

Rachel Vestey and Suzy Harvey flying over the Mongolian bumps in the Chrysler Plymouth Sloper

In the Gobi Desert the setting sun drops rapidly towards the far horizon, suddenly throwing long shadows across our camp site. It is 6.30 on Sunday evening, and just 30 cars have managed to find the patch of green some 20 kilometres away from Sainshand. We are pitching our tents yards away from the Mongol branch-line of the Trans-Siberia Express.

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We have spent a frustrating couple of hours hustling our way across immigration, and customs, of the Chinese border and into no-mans land, and then jostled our way into Mongolia.

Some half a dozen cars were on the end of tow-ropes, or, pushed. It’s a heavy toll, no doubt about it.

One of the most extraordinary stories to emerge was the effort of the Australians in the big Austin Sheerline. This car runs a four-litre version of the Austin Healey engine, originally designed for trucks and combine harvesters, and it ran its big end bearings yesterday. A workshop was found, and the bottom end of the engine stripped apart, to reveal a badly scored crankshaft, and wrecked shell-bearings. These were shimmed up and put back on with the crank having received much filing and polish with emery paper. To fill the gap – shims were made on the spot. One big-end was made out of cutting a strip out the side of a Sprite Lemonade can, and another was shimmed using the wafer thin aluminium from a cigarette packet. With this handywork, the engine was put back together and it drove into Mongolia under its own power this morning. Norman Brice and Colin Ryan deserve medals for this initiative of ace fettling.

Once into Mongolia, we faced some rough going. This was not through choice – it was the only option. The main route to the capital of Mongolia is across the Gobi Desert, and the torrential rains that hit Pakistan six weeks ago moved on and drowned Mongolia with unseasonal floods, resulting in deep ruts, now baked hard as concrete now in the late summer sun.

Three Time Trials – timed sections against the clock, timed to the second – faced competitors in the dash to our camp site.

The two Volkswagens of the Americans, Garry Staples and his son, were both agile and quick, riding the rough impressively. The first car to arrive at the end of the day was the BMW 328 of David Rayner, which looked very impressive, riding the bumps and ruts in fine style, chased down by the bellowing exhaust of the big yellow Chevy Fangio Coupe of Steve Hyde and Janet Lynne.

The Wilkinson’s Alvis crested the final bumps of the last Time Trial airborne-fashion. Billy Bolsover’s Chevy saloon was also yumping the crests in similar style.

Jose de Sousa’s MG Magnette stopped with the rear spring mountings pulling out of the floor, and Clive Dunster stopped with electrical bothers with his Chevy, rapidly put right by Simon Ayris in the mobile workshop – the coil had packed up, but a spare had been fitted, which proved to be a duff unit. The Rolls Royce Phantom of The Reddingtons had two punctures, fixed by the Banhams, who thought they had been fitted wrongly back in Vancouver.

Among the minority to find the campsite, there was a good buzz – the camaraderie among those who reckon they have had a “really good day” is running strong. However, we suspect this opinion might differ markedly with those who are still out there. Just finding this spot is no mean feat, made doubly difficult for those trying to get to the soup-kitchen in darkness. The Stutz of Andrew Bailey and Mickey Gabbet needed towing in across the moorland, with yours truly borrowing the film-unit’s pick-up.

As our support-team set about cooking our evening meal – long green tents form our dining room tonight – Gerry Crown was pacing up and down inspecting the opposition, looking troubled. “Just wondering what we have to do to win this event,” says Gerry, who is here with Matt Bryson, son of a legendary Australian navigator, who have turned in a well-paced effort today in their Holden… until the results come out later, they are wondering if their effort to not go too quickly, too soon, has still kept them in touch with the hot-shots.

Climbing the Inner Mongolia Plateau… Day 2 Daihai to Erenhot

SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2010



 

David and Elizabeth Wenman in the mighty 14 litre La France pass a stricken Chinese lorry[[MORE]]

 



After what seemed a leisurely breakfast, we set out for the Mongolian Plateau, with a climb up through a dramatic pass lined with red-raced craggy rock and sweeping bends, dodging slow-moving trucks grinding up in first gear.

Getting to Mongolia first means entering Inner Mongolia. Once that has been accomplished, you then set out for Inner Earth of Outer Mongolia. Confused? With road signs in Chinese navigators had to have their wits about them.

The full extent of the early problems of many cars that suffered from six weeks in a tin box on the deck of a ship are now coming to light. Several cars that had not been tested to the full discovered problems on the way to the Great Wall. There were trip-meters that were not working, faulty ignition systems or other electrical gremlins.... one car was a straight forward fix – points had burnt out and with new points fitted in the distributor along with a new condenser was running sweetly again… the event mechanics have been busy with these sort of teething problems.

Tim Scott on the solo ride of his life on the FN motorcycle reached Daihai this morning for breakfast having been sleeping on the roadside after a dozen spokes of the rear wheel dropping out puncturing the inner-tube. The sudden flex this caused upset the drive shaft which is thought might have been slightly twisted. This, in turn, had damaged a bearing. He was off to find a blacksmith today to get repairs made.

David Clements and Russel Stevenson - 1929 Chevrolet Roadster - driving the Inner Mongolia grasslands

Tim Wilkinson’s Alvis SA arrived in Erenhot tonight on the end of a tow-rope behind Peter and Betty Banham, with rumbles in the engine suggesting bearing trouble… this will be a major overhaul but fortunately Tim had packed a bearing set in his spares kit. Bruce Washington from New Zealand in a Chrysler tourer ran a big-end bearing today, Peter Banham has stripped down the bottom end in the car park and it would appear to have been poorly fitted when the engine was built, but as Bruce has a spare set of shell-bearings, it looks a straight-forward car-park rebuild, and will probably be running before midnight.

Andrew Bailey in the Stutz has made faltering progress, admitting that the last minute rush for the boat to China meant the Zenith carburettor probably was jetted wrongly and its been down on power and misfiring since the start – the sweep-mechanics have been busy sorting these sort of gremlins all day. Jose de Sousa’s MG Magnette had its Facet fuel-pumps pack up and was towed into the hotel tonight by the Sunbeam Alpine of David Roberts.

Roger Allen and Maggie Gray in their big Cadillac Coupe have a holed radiator and have phoned ahead to say they will be in late tonight. The Lagonda of Richard Cunningham is outside the hotel with a blown piston, the word is that he is hoping to get it trucked across the border into Mongolia tomorrow, and hopefully repair it on our rest-day.

If this all sounds a bit grim, it ought to be stressed that just about everyone has breezed today, and has enjoyed driving empty roads…. with vast open plains on either side. Coming into town this evening, there were giant statutes of dinosaurs grazing on the grass, a reminder of an earlier occupation. A giant truck full of hay-bales fell over after a tyre burst but fortunately left room for the rally cars to pass by.

Tomorrow we enter Mongolia and tackle the first Time Trials of the event. We also leave the relative comfort of our overnight hotels for the first camping night near Sainshand.

Frederique Constant – Peking to Paris Motor Challenge kick off

The day began ridiculously early. Breakfast was set in the Shangri-La Ballroom especially for us and at 5.0am it was bustling with rally-drivers eager to get going.

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Even though it was dark outside, the unlit car park was an indication of who is taking this seriously… you only had to look at who was asking the hotel porters for trolleys for piles of suitcases, and those who were swinging through the revolving doors with nothing more than a small airline bag, to get a feel of who was out to preserve their suspension and maximise their performance.

The plan was to make an early start, beat the traffic jams, and make the steady climb up to Badaling and the Great Wall of China for the start. Our sponsors, Swiss watch company Frederique Constant, had erected an arch with two giant clocks on either side, in the shadow of the Great Wall. Then the fun begins… Chinese dancers on stilts put on a display, including turning cartwheels and acrobatics on stilts, followed by Chinese dragons and lions prancing around the lined up cars.

Tim Scott took all this in his stride and kept his head down as he made final adjustments to his route book which had been transferred onto a gadget in a plastic case resting on the fuel tank of his 1922 FN 750cc motorcycle. He has never been short of company on this rally – until now. After the drop of the flag at 9:0am, he was entirely on his own… he pointed the motorcycle-and-sidecar to the other side of the car park and fired up the engine and headed out through the crowd of cheering admirers as he set about his lonesome single-handed ride across two Continents.

He was followed by David and Karen Ayre in their 1907 seven-litre Itala, sister car of the model Prince Borghese had used to win the original Peking to Paris of 1907, and the 1914 Lancia Theta of Daniel Ward – both these two in the Pioneer Category were with us for the 100th-anniversary Peking Paris we organised three years ago.

Cymbals clashed, giant drums banged, and to the great cacophony of sound from the dancing troupe, the Peking Paris was finally, at long last, on the road.

Mongolia strides a giant plateau, and to get up there involves a long steady climb. In 1907, it was a tough test for Prince Borghese and his rivals and for some today, it was quite a struggle. We all found ourselves dodging in and out of trucks, passing through small villages with excited children cheering from the roadside, small motorcycles with as many as six live sheep tied down behind the rider, and it was not long before we hit our first patches of rough unmade road, with long strips of dirt, dust and potholes.

The Lancia of Daniel Ward stopped with a blocked fuel filter, soon sorted by Simon Ayris in the mobile workshop, and this was not the only car to experience fuel supply issues during what has been quite a warm day. The Volvo of Nicholas Pryor required carburettor adjustments after a morning of rough-running. The little Citroen saloon of Thomas Weichenberger arrived at the first Passage Control of the day run by Peter and Betty Banham requiring a head-gasket change, which he set about doing himself, and Kurt Englehorn in Bentley limped into the end of the day requiring a new clutch. The Lagonda LG45 of Richard Cunningham may be the first retirement, they have chosen to move on to the next major town of Erenhot as they have reported in that the car is unable to continue.

Our route swept through green and lush open countryside and has brought us to our lakeside hotel at Daihai. Heidi Winterbourne and Nicky Bannister were eager to set up their Time Control in the hotel lobby ready to greet competitors, but in this instance, found Car 59, the Alvis Speed 20, of Rudi Friedrichs and Lennox McNeeley already in the bar with tins of beer. The Speed 20 had lived up to its name. Lennox, who originally had planned a drive of his own in a La France, but hit snags when the engine could not be built in time, flew out to the start regardless and found himself taking up a vacancy as co-driver and navigator in the Alvis as last-minute stand-in.

Live your Passion

Peking to Paris motor challenge : The Final Day of Preparation…

The car park at the Shangri-La Hotel was filled with 100 rallycars receiving final adjustments today – for just a few, a case of packing a few things down, for most, a day to make final mechanical preparations, including some who needed fairly major surgery.

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A La Salle on original 6-volt electrics was in trouble requiring a coil swop, a Lagonda had a clutch change, and perhaps the biggest job of all, major surgery to the axle of car 27, the 1927 Pontiac of Mattia Nocera from Italy, as the torque-tube prop-shaft needed changing…he knew in advance the car was problematical with a worn joint to the axle, and had shipped over a spare, the axle was taken apart at the same time.

Several cars have given concern over vaporisation, refusing to run smoothly in the Chinese sun, Nigel Gambier’s Lagonda had a simple air-lock but it was frustratingly time-consuming to hunt down. All cars have now passed pre-rally scrutineering checks.

The afternoon was spent in briefings in the hotel, listing to the doctor’s medical preparations and support, how the sweeper-mechanics will back up the event and how the time-keeping works. Half the rally put up their hands when asked if the question, “Is this your first timed event?”

We all dine together this evening, and have to check out of the hotel in advance of the dawn start tomorrow morning for the climb out of town up to Badeling and the Great Wall of China… at long last Peking to Paris 2010 will be on the road.

Live your Passion