Syd Stelvio Peking to Paris 25 - Day 11 – Great Sea Road to Urumqi – 580km

Day 11 would provide one of the real treats of the journey, an early morning run through the spectacular geology of the Great Sea Road National Park. Truly the stuff of memories, but, as it would go, the day will probably be remembered for one of attrition.

The Great Sea Road is sensational, an ancient seabed that offers an offroad drive through the belly of a canyon, before opening up into flat desert, before further undulations in the shadow of giant cliffs and rock formations. In the early morning light it is ethereal, but the day started going wrong for some almost straight away. Car 9, the 1931 Ford A Coupe of Carlos Reider and Stefan Roth pulling over inside the spectacular canyon, with an issue that would force them onto a flat bed. A few more kilometers down the track and Tomas de Vargas Machuca stood next to his motionless steed, brandishing a spanner and yelling expletives about the Chinese fixers that instead of stopping, had inexplicably doused him in gravel as they passed. His Bentley would also end up on a flat bed, although not after a valiant effort to complete the day in first gear, with no clutch.

Not much further down the road from Tomas there was another calamity, as Christina and Alex Gruber had parked their Bentley carefully in a ditch. Only they know how that transpired, but it can’t have been too serious as they were back in the game not much later. There would be other issues as well on the 80km run to, and on the first regularity of the day. Car 77, Mike and James Cattermole were struggling with fuel starvation, car 50, the Volvo PV of Nicolas and Max Merino had broken a wishbone and in car 22, Marc Schätzle and Sandro Tanner had split the radiator on the Ford 91A. There were also suspension issues for both car 32, Peter Pollet and Alexander De Groot, and car 18, Paul McGeehan and Chris Covington, not to mention suspect electrical problems for Christophe Bouchut and Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon in the Peugeot 504. Car 69, the Fiat 500 of Roberto Chiodi and Fabio Longo was also reported to be travelling slowly, due to, well, due to just being small, I think.

Before this begins to read like a job sheet for the local garage, I should probably make a comment on the rally itself. The road to the regularity, once out of the National Park, was more kilometres on typical dirt tracks, rough in places, dry and dusty, with the wind blowing strongly again, a wind that seemed to grow in stature every time another car broke down, as if feeding off the misfortune of the crews. For those not struggling with car issues, two regularities awaited, taking place in the now Martian landscape. The beauty of the National Park was behind us, and the landscape now was an ugly, scarred mess of iron deposits and wind farms.

The wind was still ramping up, and for some crews, the time penalties were also about to increase, as a fair few, including some front runners, missed a turn after the second reg’s first timing point. This little detour would cost numerous crews a whole minute, including the leaders Brian Scowcroft and Mark Gilmour and the leading classic machine of Harold Goddijn and Corinne Vigreux.

These were the only regularities of the day, and with a few hundred clicks still to travel there was plenty of time to contemplate errors, though with the wind now gusting at over 50mph and sandstorms obscuring the road ahead, maximum concentration was needed to keep the cars pointing in the right direction.

Even when the tarmac finally appeared, the wind was still building, making the travel extremely hazardous. There had been other mechanical issues as well, with Brian and John Caudwell limping with gearbox problems and Jonathan Turner and Nick English’s Bentley, that has endured so many chassis’ woes, now refusing to start at all. Perhaps the old girl is trying to tell you something, JT, or as he told the friendly policemen whose hat he briefly borrowed, ‘the flat bed would be here soon’, meanwhile he made himself at home, relaxing in their Police truck come motorhome until he found their restraining seats for errant motorists in the back!

Flat bed was to meet flat bed truck with Bentleys on board at a distant service area in the small hours. A reunion of sorts for the WOB Boys as Tomas de Vargas Machuca, Jonathan Turner and Nick English cozied up to keep out the cold on their long and slow journey into the night.

Towards the end of the day, the wind was so bad the authorities were threatening to close the remote MTC on safety grounds. The field was well spread out by this time, some travelling, some stopped, and some moving with the assistance of West China’s entire fleet of flat beds. For those still motoring the run to the hotel was on highway, but there was zero time to relax, with the wind causing some erratic and involuntary lane changing on the multilane asphalt. With so much to fix, and after so much time in the wild, the city of Urumqi was no doubt a blessed relief.

Once the scores were finally on the doors, after the mechanical troubles and regularity woes there had been a change in the overall lead, with the number one spot now back in the hands of the Argentine Chevy crew, of Jorge and Cristobal Perez Companc, now 41 seconds ahead of Brian Scowcroft and Mark Gilmour in second, after their error earlier in the day. In the classics, John Henderson and Lui MacLennan had moved up into second place, and cut the lead to long time leaders Harold Goddijn and Corinne Vigreux to a minute.

The best performance of the day though belongs to Steve Osborne and Robert Smith in the number 65 Escort RS1600, who despite everything, accrued just 13 seconds of penalty. Timing aside though, with the weather conditions experienced on the road, a huge round of applause must go to any crew in an open top car, just plaudits after enduring such a battering.

Unbelievably, tomorrow is the final full day in China with competition, as we accelerate towards the border. Tomorrow, the day will end in another Camp, which some may not be looking forward to. I can promise you though, it is a bit of a stunner.

Syd