“So let me get this right Dad… You’re going to fly to Beijing and then drive home”? That sentence alone boggles my mind as to the enormity of the adventure that lay ahead of me. I’ve shot quite a few of the smaller rally events for HERO now. The Peking to Paris 2025 was a whole new ball game. P2P was Historic Endurance Rallying Organisation flagship rally of the year. I couldn’t wait to be part of the Media Team. Preparations started early in February when some of my kit was packed into Media HiLux 323 at HERO HQ. Along with a fleet of red Organisation trucks, it was then off to the docks before shipping out to Beijing.
Shangri La, Beijing…
We arrived at the Shangri La Hotel in Beijing on the 13th May and got straight to work. First job was to get a Chinese driving licence. Then we were off with the crews to collect the trucks and rally cars from storage. The competitors were reunited with their cars they hadn’t seen for months. They had just a few days to prepare their cars and kit ahead of the rally starting early on 17th. A car park full of classic rally cars is certainly a bit attraction to the locals… Even head chefs were coming out during their breaks to look around. The rally crews were getting into the spirit too!
Bright and early we were on the start line at The Great Wall of China. The start of the 9th running of The Peking to Paris Rally. First held in 1907 when Prince Borghese responded to a challenge in a French newspaper. The challenge was to enter a race across the largest land mass in the world… 118 years later here I was feeling, not too dissimilar I suspect. Wondering what was in store over the many miles to come.
14 days to cross China…
Over the next 14 days we wound and at times battled our way across China. We passed the tut-tut repair workshops of tiny rural villages. The strange juxtaposition of cows tied up outside the front door on streets with ‘state of the art’ camera gantries… Then a 1930s Bentley rumbles past. Villages had probably never seen these in books let alone in real life!
Towns and villages gave way to sand and the Gobi Desert. Sometimes deep soft sand challenged the drivers just to make progress at all. While other times the fast dusty gravel tracks allowed them to let the rally cars stretch their legs. There were times when we stopped to take photos and there was nothing in all directions to the horizon. Then a plume of dust as a rally car navigated it’s way to the next time control.
Be it hot hotel car parks or sand storms in desert campsites, the work to keep these old cars going still had to be done. The milage and conditions were relentless, the next day the rally moves on, so you have to be ready because it won’t wait.
Highs and Lows…
China gave us everything… From snow at 3429m to 200ft below sea level driving along the old seabed in The Great Sea Road National Park. After 14 days we waved goodbye to China, the roads and tracks became those of Kazakhstan oil fields. Dusty rutted tracks lead onwards to the Caspian Sea. As crews flew over, I joined the Sweeps on the boat to Azerbaijan. Ahead lay 2 days much needed non-driving in Baku.
HERO-ERA used to call them Rest Days…there isn’t much rest though. So the renamed Non-Driving days are just as busy for the competitors. In the Pit Lane of the Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix or a commandeered workshop!! The crews got their cars ready for the next leg of the rally, where East meets West.
East Meets West…
The next few days brought a few sections of dust and gravel mixed in with winding tarmac roads of Eastern Europe. Then the run to Paris through the lush greenery of the mountains Western Europe.
Day 37 Dijon to Paris was non-competitive drive to the finish…we had done it !! Congratulations to our overall winners, Tony Sutton and Andrew Lawson.
My Highlights…
I had seen some amazing things on my 37 days of HERO-ERA Peking to Paris 2025. Sights that 99.9% of the world’s population will never ever see. Amazing though they were, this rally was made for me by the people I met along the way.
I have everything crossed….I would love to get the call to be part of the media team again on the Peking to Paris 2028
