PEKING TO PARIS
A MERCEDES 220 AND 2 INTREPID SPORTS AUTO ENTHUSIASTS PREPARED FOR AN EPIC VOYAGE
Talk about 55 days in Peking — it’s going to be something like 36 days out of Peking, or 14,000km of deserts, mountains, boulders, forests, tracks, metal roads, no roads, some tarmac, mud, mud, and more mud, rallycross courses, race tracks, countryside, and cities. Along the way, the 240 contestants will push; pull; lift; abuse; coerce; and, finally, drive their cars from Beijing, China to Paris, France.
Something started 112 years ago
Two of this year’s rally contestants will be attempting to finish something that another pair who have long since departed this world, started in 1907 — the year that the first Peking to Paris motor rally was run. Forty entrants shrank to only five on the start line that day, and two Frenchmen on a 1907 motorized French tricycle were among those. The other four teams finished. The Italians won in their Itala, the Dutch were second in a Spyker, and then two French De Dions filled the next two places. That tricycle is still out there somewhere, where it was abandoned in the Gobi Desert 112 years ago. The two Frenchmen made their way home — just.
Since then, the race has been run several more times. This year, in June, the seventh version of this rally will leave Beijing, headed for La Place Vendôme, Paris, France.
Finishing that something
Kiwi motor sport veterans Garry Boyce and
Ken Williams will be among the starters in this marathon rally.
Garry and his car have a long association with endurance events. He bought the 1964 Mercedes-benz 220 SECB Coupé in 1994. The car was purchased ex–new Zealand, but in Europe, where the owner travelled extensively before returning to New Zealand with it. Garry bought it and has used it extensively in endurance events, touring in Europe, even at the Nürburgring, and then in the 2016 Rally of the Incas, the pan-american event that he reported on in this magazine at the time.
He and friend Ken Williams returned from that event determined to take on the 2019 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. Even though the car had served them well during that event, what they have not worked on in preparation for this next event is too insignificant to report. Garry says that, “ever since I became aware of the Paris to Peking, I have wanted to compete in what is the ultimate test of car endurance, as well as the ability of the contestants to endure, as well as maintain the car, throughout”. Looking on from here, it would appear that he is well prepared.
This rally must be a solo effort of the team in each car; the rules of the rally state that no service or support crews are allowed.
Nothing like experience …
Apart from the fact that Garry already owned the Mercedes, the no-servicecrew rule is a very real reason why he has selected it as a competition car. He says that, “the chassis style has been proven to be bulletproof and successful in endurance events over decades now. The work personally completed on the car means that we know every nut and bolt on the car”. This knowledge adds to the team’s confidence in entering the event.
… and careful preparation
The list of work done since the last run in South America is endless. The car now has a different motor, rebuilt, and has carburettors rather than fuel injection. The auto gearbox has gone and has been replaced by a Mercedes four-speed manual. Just think of the wiring-loom changes for those two operations alone. River crossings mean that no breathing or electrical corners can be cut. The front suspension has been changed and uprated with a Mercedes adaptation known as ‘Third World suspension’ — tougher, higher, stronger. The diff is now a stronger unit and has a lower ratio than the previous one, the rear brakes have been upgraded to discs, and a different fuel tank has been added — which is, in itself, a fairly major modification. Removal of excess chrome and other bits and pieces reduced the weight by 50kg, but the modifications then re-added that weight.
Garry and Ken have done all this work themselves, and they are confident that the car will get them from Peking to Paris because they know it intimately.
The car carries no sponsor decals. Garry and Ken want to do it themselves. They proved to organizers that they were worthy when they finished the Incas event, and Garry believes that this stood them in good stead when they applied to compete in the Peking to Paris.
Ready for anything
During the rally, they will encounter all sorts of conditions, so must be well prepared. In the car, they are equipped with additional petrol capacity, spare wheels, a very complete toolkit, which even includes a trolley jack. They will also carry a myriad of spares, including gaskets, seals, bearings, belts, filters, electrical
“The chassis style has been proven to be bulletproof and successful in endurance events over decades now. The work personally completed on the car means that we know every nut and bolt on the car”
components, and on and on it goes — there’s even a safe. They will also be carrying camping gear; some nights, they will camp beside their car, other evenings, they will be in hotels or prearranged accommodation. It’s good to know that Garry will be getting some return on his £55K (NZ$100K) entry fee.
Garry says that the most important fact is to “remember it’s a long game, and all risk-taking must be carefully calculated against the objective of getting there, to La Place Vendôme in Paris, with the best points rating possible”.
More than a Sunday drive
Each day, they will average about 400km. The ‘regularity’ trials are the major competitive aspect. They will have to tackle a special stage where the objective is to arrive at the control point absolutely on time, not a second before, not a second after. To make this even harder than it sounds, they are only given an approximate finishing point in the route ‘book’, which, incidentally, is three spiral-bound books long. The start time and finish time of these stages are noted, as are waypoints along the stage. The idea is to maintain the correct average speed, which has to include every possible permutation likely because of the route. Points will then be added for the differential to the scheduled arrival time. This is much, much harder than it sounds and is the reason for the impressive array of computer equipment attached to the dash — not something they had in 1907.
In addition to this, the cars will be GPS tracked, so anyone — including, of course, the organizers — can know the exact whereabouts of each car during the event.
The event itself is a large-scale logistical exercise: 120 cars, 240 contestants, more than 30 event staff, all to be shepherded a third of the way around the globe. It represents the realization of a major ambition for Garry and Ken. Immediately after finishing the pan-american event, Garry said to Ken, “What about the P to P in 2019?” Apparently, Ken waited a full nanosecond before he said, “Yes”.
Garry says that he’ll be very apprehensive waiting at the start line: “There are just so many factors that have to come together”. During the rally it will be a case of “go with the flow and live the moment”. The finish will be “absolute satisfaction at the achievement and the completion of a challenge”.
Ed.’s note: The car will shortly be shipped to China, and Garry will file a report for us from the rally once under way.
Along the way, the 240 contestants will push; pull; lift; abuse; coerce; and, finally, drive their cars from Beijing, China to Paris, France