Around 100 classic cars travelling Bejing to Paris, in the spirit of the first ever long distance car race in 1907.
http://www.pekingparis.com/
Latest Developments
Tour de Force have been asked to help out with route information and reconnaissance for the Central Asian section between the Russian / Kazakhstan border and the Turkmenistan / Iran border.
We're Off!
On the 10th September 2010, nearly 100 cars were flagged away from the Great Wall of China on an epic 14,500 kms journey to Paris. Tour de Force supplied 3 of the logistics support crew for this event. Duncan Milligan and Tony Jones in car 158, whilst Jim Allen was in the film crew car 153.
Many thanks to Gerard Brown for some of the photos http://www.gerardbrown.co.uk/
Duncan and Tony wait at a check point in Western Mongolia
Jim and the camera car
Not surprisingly, wherever we went, the rally caused a bit of a stir. Either with police escorts or people lining the streets to wave us on.
Talk about old, this Itala is the same as the orginal car used by Count Borghese in the original challenge in 1907
Once upon a time this was a fire engine!
This is what happens when a very expensive Bentley breaks down at a fuel station in rural China..
The trip travelled through Mongolia, with some amazing scenery. We travelled for a week without roads, camping along the way.
On our way to the next checkpoint
GPS navigation was essential
Driving in Mongolia was a great challenge, one of the last off-road playgrounds left..
One of about 3 roadsigns we saw in a 1000kms
Here's a quick guided tour of one of our campsites in Mongolia. It got down to -15 Deg C. the night before the Russian border!
Breakdowns were a regular occurence on the trip,
what with so many old cars
A blast from the past, we found a dead car from the Mongol Rally, an event also organised by The Adventurists, for whom Tour de Force organised The Africa Rally in Jan 2010. At the same place I saw this guy doing some welding for a competitor-he was wearing sunglasses...
After Mongolia, the beauty of the Russian Altai mountains was a pleasant surprise
Kazakhstan was about terrible roads, hilariously bad hotels and our own breakdown..
Not surprisingly, wherever we went, the rally caused a bit of a stir. Either with police escorts or people lining the streets to wave us on.
Once upon a time this was a fire engine!
The trip travelled through Mongolia, with some amazing scenery. We travelled for a week without roads, camping along the way.
The camera car following a competitor
On our way to the next checkpoint
GPS navigation was essential
Driving in Mongolia was a great challenge, one of the last off-road playgrounds left..
Here's a quick guided tour of one of our campsites in Mongolia. It got down to -15 Deg C. the night before the Russian border!
It's tough in Mongolia
what with so many old cars
Looking rather sad on the back of a truck, happily it did get going again.
The closest thing you'll find to spare parts..
A local Mongolian shop, you can have vodka, vodka, or vodka.
Russia and Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan was about terrible roads, hilariously bad hotels and our own breakdown..
If ever you end up in Semey, try not to stay here..
On the road from Semey to Almaty, we suffered the consquences of having towed a variety of very heavy old cars up and down various mountains and dirt roads in Mongolian. Our clutch went..
It made for a long 20 out of 24 hours in a truck
But we are not in adventure logistics for nothing. Within 36 hours we had got the Landrover the 900 kms to Almaty, sourced another clutch, fitted and tested the vehicle and were back in the game.
We pulled off the road, stopped here to get some sleep before heading off again.
Challenges
Just the sheer pace of the rally was a real challenge, sometimes we would travel over 600 kms per day, early starts and late finishes were par for the course. Some of the competitors would be driving in open topped cars for 16 hours a day in scorching heat, freezing cold and sand storms. Epic stuff. Logistically, one of the biggest challenges was getting over 100 cars over 11 national borders was hard going..
Breakdowns were a daily occurrence, often we would come across a vehicle stranded at the side of the road, the competitors were always very grateful for assistance..
The scale of the operation meant that any logistics challenges were multiplied by the number of people and cars involved, as this video shows
There were "political" challenges, on a small scale, dealing diplomatically with competitors who were tired, stressed about their car and way outside their comfort zone when it came to travelling through some of these amazing countries.
On a larger scale, in Iran, there was a very strange atmosphere, the people were all very friendly and welcoming, but the 'powers that be' were keen to capitalise on such a high profile event. We had an official reception in Tabriz and along the entire route were banners like this.
Once we got into Europe, things became much easier, roads got better, facilities were of a higher standard, service stations were more frequent and, of course, the prices got higher...
The final day was emotional for many people, it had been an amazing journey, with many incredible highs and deep lows. What better way to enter Paris, having driven from Peking, than along the Champs Elysee
As is always the way, Tony and myself were not present at the finish, we were running the final control before entering the Place Vendome.
The Finish
This blog is only a very brief snapshot of life on the road, from the perspective of the Tour de Force support team, for a more detailed daily report, the rally had it's own reporter along for the ride. Click the link below for the full story.
Roving reporter Syd Stelvio's daily updates from the road
Conclusion
All in all the rally was a huge success, the competitors had the journey of a lifetime, through some amazing countries. Huge credit should be given to The Endurance Rally Assoc. for the smooth organisation of the event. The paperwork for over 100 cars and 200 people is truly mind boggling. All the support team worked extremely hard, the mechanics, medics, timekeepers, marshalls, course car and hotels team. We always left an hour before the competitors and arrived long after them at the nightstops. But no complaints from anyone, that was our job, it was what we were there to do.
More rallies are in the pipeline and Tour de Force will be part of the next adventure....
