Peking to Paris 2028

The Peking to Paris Motor Challenge represents one of the last true motoring adventures on the planet. To complete it has been described in the past as to ‘Driving the Impossible,’ as it became known courtesy of the French newspaper Le Matin who issued the original challenge in 1907. They challenged motorists to take their new-fangled machines across the world’s largest landmass from Peking to reach the finish in Paris. Yet despite the French origins of the challenge, no French contestant has ever won it!

This will be the longest ever Peking to Paris Motor Challenge at 42 days and 17,500 kms across twelve countries, 2,500 kms more than the original 1907 event!

This will be a fitting 10th anniversary as it recreates the challenges and demands facing those early pioneers which will make 2028 a rigorous test of crews and cars in the spirit of 1907. Starting at the Great Wall of China, the 2028 challenge will take the crews across China, but then back to Mongolia for the first time since 2019. The remote desert wonderland is a unique place, where the desolate yet beautiful landscapes enthral the viewer to provide escape beyond imagination. The sheer vastness of the Gobi desert and the dunes that whistle as they are whipped into shape by the wind, provide pure adventure. To camp under the stars in the desert and gaze in wonderment at the universe is something that will always be remembered.

The challenge of competition in the desert becomes a case survival for both the crews and their machines as sand and heat saps their energy, conservation is king. The adventure continues across the tough tracks of Eastern Europe, but if anyone thinks it is nearly over, they will be wrong. The competition will take in tests along the way with regularities in the mountains and hillsides of Europe as the endurance element continues to bite before France is in sight. Even then, there are a few elements of competition left to be endured, so any rally cars that are struggling will need to be nursed if they are to achieve the goal of crossing the finish line in Paris.

The Peking to Paris Motor Challenge is unique in the motoring world, a true historic vehicle and human endurance event that follows in the spirit and desert tracks of the 1907 Pioneers. Adhering to its original purpose of testing the automobile and crew, the first event provided the ultimate challenge of a 14,500 kms adventure 118 years ago. The 2019 event, the seventh revived by HERO-ERA, was described by competitors as the toughest yet. 2024 rivalled 2019 for real endurance, but the 10th Anniversary 2028 edition will be not just be the longest ever, but the most adventurous by far!

The Peking to Paris Motor Challenge is more than a rally, it’s a life-changing adventure. As the world’s longest-running and most prestigious motoring endurance event, it proudly upholds its legacy to this day. Our mission is to preserve the essence of this extraordinary journey, even as the world around us evolves. To do so, we chart a course through the most remote and unspoiled regions, ensuring that the ‘time travel’ experience remains vivid for all who take part.

Given the demanding nature of the event, we are highly selective in our entry process. Participation is reserved for experienced crews who have competed in other HERO-ERA events in preparation for the ultimate challenge. A true spirit of adventure is essential, expect to camp under the vast skies of Mongolia and Kazakhstan and perform regular maintenance on your own vehicle. With average daily distances of 400 kilometers – and some days stretching to 650 kilometers – this is endurance rallying at its finest. Only those with the grit, skill, and determination to conquer one of the toughest rallies on Earth need apply.

• 1907 Tribute: Vehicle Marque that took part in the original 1907 event.
• Pioneer: Pre 1921 - Cars up to 31 December 1920
• Vintage: Pre 1931 - Cars from 1 January 1921 up to 31 December 1930
• Open Top Vintageant: Pre 1948 - Open top cars from January 1931 up to 31 December 1947
• Vintageant: Pre 1948 - Cars from 1 January 1931 up to 31 December 1947
• Classic: Pre 1976 - Cars from 1 January 1948 up to 31 December 1975
• Modern Classics: Pre 1986 - Cars from 1 January 1976 up to 31 December 1985
• Solo Class: Single Crew
• 4x4: Pre 1976 - 4x4 cars up to 31 December 1975
• 3 Wheels or Less: Pre 1976 - Vehicles with less than 4 wheels, up to 31 December 1975

If you had happened to purchase a copy of the ‘Le Matin’ newspaper, in France on the 31st January 1907, whilst thumbing through the pages you might have come across an advertisement, that issued the challenge:

“What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?"

The newspaper laid down a challenge to pioneer motorists of the day to prove that these new fangled machines were fit for proper travel not just city contraptions that paraded for a couple of kilometres.

There were originally forty entries. But finally five brave crews eventually lined up outside the French embassy in Peking and began a 9,317 mile (14,994 km) adventure across the world’s largest landmass, to the eventual finish in Paris, where the winners flag was taken by Prince Scipione Borghese two months later on the 10th August. Borghese had driven a 7.0 L Itala, with co-driver Ettore Guizzardi, which amongst other trials and tribulations had ended up upside down after falling through a bridge.

The other entries to the race consisted of:

- Charles Godard/Jean du Tallis – Spyker

- Georges Cormier – DeDion

- Victor Collignon – DeDion

- Aguste Pons/Oscar Foucauld - Contal Mototri

There were no rules in the original race, only that the winner would be the first to reach Paris, where they would be awarded with a Magnum of Mumm champagne. Scant reward for the risks that would be taken, as the route would take them into unmapped terrain with very few roads, and across deserts and wildernesses with no support crews, other than Camels that would carry fuel and set up station along various parts of the route. A journalist accompanied each team, and the route loosely followed the telegraph lines that stretched across the caravan routes of Asia, to allow stories of their escapades to reach the western press.

Whilst all the teams struggled, the race would almost cost the French crew of Auguste Pons and Oscar Foucauld their lives, after their Contal-Tri was overcome by the sands of the Gobi Desert, out of fuel, sands that still hold it captive today. Its pilots were abandoned by the other runners in the event, and they had to walk back to Peking, with little to no water.

They collapsed but were luckily found by Mongol tribesmen who nurtured them back to health and took them back to Peking by Camel.

It is time for a French crew to make amends?