9th Peking to Paris Motor Challenge hits the desert
Please see a General News Release being sent to global media as a summary of the first part of P2P up to the end of Day 5.
*6 days into the 37-day famed historic endurance event, 54 crews tackle Gobi Desert
*Smallest ever car on P2P, solo star, returning veteran and Le Mans winner all making progress
*Ex-WRC and HERO-ERA endurance event winner hits the front
Since starting from the Great Wall of China six days ago, to attempt to reach the finish line in Paris 14,800 kms and 37 days away, 54 crews on the 2025 P2P have now hit the shifting sands of the Gobi Desert.
The crews from 14 countries in cars as old as a monstrous 1917 LaFrance and as small as a Fiat 500 (Cinquecento), have so far tackled regularities, tests and STC sections across gravel tracks, test and race tracks and mountain roads until they arrived in Outer Mongolia and the Gobi desert where they are now trying to survive and compete in 35 degree heat followed by sand storms.
A team from Argentina, ex WRC rally star Jorge Perez Companc, with his son Cristobal who is navigating on his first major rally, hit the front after a couple of days. Jorge has an enviable record of success in HERO-ERA endurance and desert events, winning the Sahara Challenge and the Badawï Challenge to the Last Oasis. The father and son are competing in the same successful 1939 Chevrolet Master Coupe that won in the Middle East. The Perez Companc team dropped just one second in penalties on day five. They are being chased in the same Vintage Class by Brian Scowcroft (GB) and Mark Gilmour (GB) in their Chevrolet Fangio Roadster for the overall victory, as only the Vintage cars can take outright glory.
The classes are keenly contested, such as the Classic Class where Dutchman Harold Goddijn navigated by Corinne Vigreux from France, are leading on the road and first of the classics in their Porsche 911. Hot on their sand tracks were Brian Palmer and David Bell (GB) in their Peugeot 504 Coupe, until they encountered a locked gate on the day 5 STC section which had been in the amendment notes before the day started. They were not alone as the Volvo 144 of Australians John Henderson and Lui MacLennan were also shut out by the same gate, forcing them to turn back and lose time as well. Palmer and Bell dropped to 4th Classic and Henderson and MacLennan 3rd.
German Gerd Bühler, a success story on the Flying Scotsman Vintage Rally in his Bugatti, stormed up the leaderboard, this time in his Classic Class Porsche 911 with young navigator Laurenz Feierabend on board to take fourth overall on the road and second classic.
Austrians Friedrich Müller and Robert Huber in their Ford Escort 1300 are 5th in the Classic Class with Jim Callahan and Tucker Rose of the USA in the HERO-ERA Arrive & Drive Prodrive Mustang pushing into the top ten. The UK crew of Jim Valentine and Jonathan Lodge in the P2P experienced AMC AMX jumped up to 10th on the road and 2nd in class.
The smallest ever car seen on the P2P is the Fiat Cinquecento (500), a bold and brave entry from the Republic of San Marino. The tiny car has already had some throttle problems, but the sand of the Gobi is not helping their progress. The first Sporting Time Control (STC) of the event, sections that are more intense than regularities, allowing the drivers to put cars through their paces on the desert tracks, was to halt the Fiat in its own tracks. With deep gulleys, tricky climbs and rough sections, part through trees that looked something akin to the Safari Rally, the deep grooves nearly swallowed the Fiat 500. The crew of Fabio Longo (IT) and the Minister for Tourism of the Republic of San Marino, Federico Pedini Amati (IT) supplemented by Italian journalist Roberto Chiodi, had unfurled the San Marino flag in front of the car the previous evening, an item which dwarfed the diminutive machine, still, at least they could use it to signal for future help should they be swallowed by the sand again! Later on, a HERO-ERA Mechanical Assistance crew was despatched to rescue the Fiat and help get the car back in the rally.
Tomas de Vargas Machuca (GB) the HERO-ERA Chairman who escaped his burning 1914 LaFrance with teammate Ben Cussons when they leapt from the blaze in Azerbaijan in 2024, has returned to the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge this year to make a daring solo attempt to reach Paris in a 1925 Bentley. Despite some throttle issues, loose bolts and some overheating, Tomas is ploughing on through the sands, so far 15th place in the Vintage Class.
Tomas is not the only car with solo crew, although this was sadly enforced as the 1920 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost driver Michael Power was unfortunately one participant who had to fly home. As a Bicester Motion Board Director, Michael had to return to Bicester after the tragic events that unfolded there last week. All on P2P sent their thoughts and condolences with him for the loved ones of those who lost their lives and sent prayers for a speedy recovery for those that suffered injuries back in the UK fighting the fire.
In his absence, co-driver Nigel Parsons has continued solo, teaming up with fellow solo participant, Tomas de Vargas Machuca, in an alliance of solitude between the Bentley and Rolls Royce as they convoy along the route together, and an alliance of friendship and cooperation that illustrates perfectly what the P2P is all about.
Le Mans winner Christophe Bouchut (FR) and former racer turned navigator Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon (ES) are in the top twenty and 3rd in the class with their historic Peugeot 504 Coupe V6. They could have been higher, but at a racetrack where they should have excelled, their throttle cable snapped losing them a lot of time.
The most experienced P2P team member on the 2025 event, Jonathan Turner (GB) returns after 28 years in exactly the same Bentley he competed in on the second ever adventure in 1997. He has Nick English (GB) alongside him on his very first P2P which is a dream come true for him. The historic aircraft pilot has emersed himself into the navigation role as the veteran and the newbie are an astonishing 4th in the Vintage Class and therefore overall, in the fifth oldest car, a 1929 Bentley.
In fact, there is an eclectic mix of rally cars on the 2025 event from 1917 and 1920 Pioneer to 1924 and 1930 Vintage cars such as a Rolls Royce Phantom 2 and beyond. In the Classic Class there is 1967 Volvo Estate car of Americans John and David Houck, a 1975 Datsun 240Z of Ryan and Isaiah Salter (USA) disguised as a Zebra, an immaculate Citroen DS20 driven by watchmaker Daniel Spadini (CH) who insists on wearing a clean white shirt to match his car. There is a Prodrive built Mustang of Americans Jim Callahan and Tucker Rose complimented by an ex works Peugeot 504 V6 Coupe that won the WRC Safari Rally driven by Jean-Pierre Nicholas, now driven by Peugeot Le Mans winner Christophe Bouchut (FR).
The mix of competitors is equally eclectic with Dukes, Car Salesman, Swiss Bankers, Entrepreneurs and Philanthropists such as Brian Caudwell and Jonathan Turner, ex-WRC drivers and a Le Mans winner. There is a Paris Fashion Designer, 2 Watchmakers, a Government Minister, a Journalist, a Mechanic a Shipping Agent and a Farmer, the common dominator is their collective love of motorsport adventure.
The road ahead is long and the route will get tougher, with more heat, dust and changeable conditions to contend with, where both human and machine will be tested to their limits. However, there is the Great Sea Road and Kazakhstan to look forward to and then the Caspian Sea, but with just six days run of the 37, the 2025 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge has only just begun.
