Day#26: Kiev to Lviv

22JUN13:

Track day, a nice paved course:Len was allowed to drive with certain conditions..

The Newly Weds..

Lars and Anette Cars fixed and we are HAPPY !

Ken Mac's new bike

Kim got "married" today

The cable car in Kiev - a great view at the top

Our $6 Car wash..

The  skyline from our hotel

“The town of Lviv might not be very well known but this old city in Western Ukraine certainly knows how to throw a good welcome.

We drove through the streets tonight and word filtered back that we were in for a surprise. A large arch had been built across one street, closed specially for us, two streets were given over to the welcome of the rally, a ramp installed, a jazz band brought in to thump away at music like Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines, and everyone else had a street-party. You could hardly move for people, push-chairs, children, elderly residents who recalled a street-race style Grand Prix back in 1930, everyone was here… over 5,000 turned out, and a large marquee was erected on a lawn for spectators to welcome us into their arms. Inching past vulnerable toes, it took half an hour to go one kilometre to the hotel at the far end of the street lined with local classic-cars.

With a road regarded as too bumpy and too rough to enable us to make rapid progress today, we instead were all given a last-minute re-route, and the coloured map-book came in most handy – everyone seems to have navigated today without a hitch, and the Dutch who have been urging us to put in more navigation must have felt at home.

The day began with a circuit-test outside Kiev. Again a network of fast flowing corners with very short straights – not a fast circuit, but a big emphasis on braking, and handling, requiring the right lines to hook them all together. Three outstanding efforts today show that there is now a spring in our steps as we all race for the European Trophy – the cups for best Vintageant and best Classic in the section from Kiev to Paris.

Fastest round the track was the experienced Holden crew of car 100, the pick-up with a mighty V8 engine thundered round and made light work of it all, Peter St. George clocking up a time of 5 minutes 18 seconds, nobody got anywhere near close to that. He now leads the Classics in the European Trophy after a consistent day crossing country and arriving on time.

Best Vintageant was the V8 Ford Coupe of Mike Reeves and Michelle Jana Chan, who posted a time of 6:00 minutes dead, 15 seconds ahead of regular Vintageant top-performer in the red Chevy, Phil Garratt, and no less than 50 seconds better than the Chrysler 75 roadster of Bruce and Ben Washington. Second fastest on the track in the Vintageants was Lars Rolner on 6:12, three seconds ahead of the Chevy, but putting in a most determined effort was the tiny MG TC of Peter Zernial, who romped round the track hugging the tightest of lines through the bends to record 6:34, gritty determination today saw him move up the overall leader board, and he is now 8th overall, “we have been 18th before now, but this is our best position yet… we are really going for it in the coming week.” The effort of the MG today outshone many of the favourites, with the MG setting the same time as the Ford Model A Special of Bill Cleyndert, also on 6:34.

The Woodcock Brothers were the only other crew to post a time under 7-minutes in the Vintageants. Jenny Mah in the Model A went round in 8:24, pink wheels glinting in the sun and going so slowly Jenny had time to take photographs as she went… and posted a time that was a full minute quicker than the slowest time of the day, underlining what a big variety we have in terms of not just performance, but approach to the event.

In the Classics, the big Citroen DS23 posted 6:08, Gerry Crown posted 5:22, and Peter Lovett’s Porsche smoothed out the corners to post 5:30, nobody getting near the time of the hairy Holden Ute.

John Layzell’s VW Beetle developed a pistol-cracking backfire on the over-run into corners and set 6:14, and John Rich was a surprise performer in the 4x4 Toyota Jeep, posting 6:17, a reward for a particularly neat driving effort. Richard White and Richard Scott were neat and tidy and did well to record a time in their Volvo Amazon of 5:59 after a steady run. Philippe Clamens had the vote for “best noise” in the V8 Mercedes Coupe, the V8 snaked around the course in 5:47.

So, in the European Trophy-stakes, the heat is on, with the V8 Ford Coupe outgunning the rest of the pack of Vintageants with a solid performance, and the Holden pick-up truck surprising everyone with a time that has out-gunned all the regular Classic category favourites.”

Peking to Paris Rally Report

Day #25: Kiev Rest Day

21JUN13:

"..The roads have improved, the people are friendly, the women are gorgeous, the Fairmont here in Kiev is top drawer and we have a day off. we did a few things on the car this morning, and were invited to a press conference with the Premiers son Victor, a very official type event with about 20 or so press people present, TV cameras rolling  a sort of question and answer thing in Ukrainian with the leaders of our group Phillip and Kim B, 2 other competitors, Kim and myself and Victor. Well to my surprise I was presented an original sketch, a car caricature by Victor as a part of the press conference, cameras rolling, as a birthday present, it was amazing. finished off the afternoon with an enjoyable walk about city and bunch of laughs back at the bar with some of our new found friends. Take care for now, love to all of you, talk at you soon."

Kim & Len

Breakfast at the Fairmont

Lens Birthday Present from Rila and Phil

The Generals .. 

More goofing around - Days off are always fun

Government Building in Kiev

Statues everywhere in Kiev

 Kiev is a booming city

Lots of Churches

The square where the orange revolution started in Kiev

Kiev at night

Outside the Fairmont Hotel - complete with Kim's Commentary 

“It has been a frantic day with most crews carrying out checks and servicing – the final section has no further rest-days, this is it now – every day counts, all the way to Paris to arrive on the Saturday 29th June into Place Vendome… come and see the cars, all welcome, the first car expected after 12.30, possibly around 1.0pm.

Outside the Fairmont Grand Hotel there were scenes of feverish activity. In a street around the corner, the Model T Ford had been stripped right down and was looking like a large broken insect. Inside the hotel, the President of the Automobile Federation of Ukraine was staging a press conference – two TV crews and 32 journalists attended, this national motor-club have certainly worked hard on our behalf, and know how to turn up the wick of publicity.

We set off tomorrow with renewed enthusiasm – the noticeboard announces a new trophy for the final Kiev to Paris section, “The European Trophy” – four trophies are at stake here, two for the best placed Classic Car on this section, and two for the best placed Vintageant, it means a car that lost time somewhere along the route, such as Mongolia, gets a “fresh start” with something to aim for on the series of test-sections coming up, the first is a motor racing circuit about an hour out from here.

Between here and Paris there are circuit tests and mountain climbs, with Slovakia, Austria, and Switzerland organising closed-road sections. It means the final results could change quite dramatically from here on, with crews eager to move up the leader board, and at the same time, hang on to their Gold and Silver medals.”

Peking to Paris Rally Report

Day #24: Kharkiv to Kiev

20JUN13:

“Today proved to be all about an enjoyable drive through very green countryside, with a network of roads threading through giant-sized fields of either sunflowers, wheat, or maize, with several passage-controls at roadside cafes, where crews would meet up. The remote and rural roads proved traffic-free, until entering Kiev. With the timing relaxed, some crews took time out to explore, Richard Everingham and Seonaid Beningfield in a Bentley R-Type discovered a 17th century monastery. They both say it was a “beautiful, wonderful experience” but chatting to the monks proved rather difficult – and nothing to do with language difficulties… the monks have a vow of silence, so couldn’t discuss anything.

We have now arrived at the 5-star Fairmont Grand Hotel, once again the best hotel in town - and the rally has been given pride of place parking on a precinct in front of the hotel, overlooking the river. Large security fences have been put into place around the cars - given the level of interest the rally is now attracting, a prudent move. An excellent silver-service meal has been well received tonight, with 24 waiters and waitresses attending to us, and the wine is flowing well.”

Peking to Paris Rally Report

The Fairmont Grand Kiev

Serge the door man in Kiev - Always a smile

Day #23: Belgorod to Kharkiv

19JUN13:

"Hello to All;

after an uneventful day travelling through Russia yesterday we arrived at a rather shitty hotel, that  had no ice, no wine and ran out of beer, needless to say life was looking grim. We awoke to sunshine , a 300 km. dash to a race track just before the Ukraine border and had a blast running the paved and dirt circuit, plenty of eye candy all around it was nuts. From there we drove 40 km to a shopping mall and had lunch, well done. after lunch we travelled to the border to the Ukraine, wow little if any resistance to leave, they were happy to see us go. Welcome back to the real world, paraded reception upon arrival  in Karkiev that the Queen of England would be envious of. Kim however, is quite upset because his fan club was not allowed inside the ropes, therefore no mingling with the crowd. a reasonable dinner a few drinks with friends and I find myself here writing to you.

Good night to all, take care talk at you soon."

-Kim & Len

Leaving the hotel on Day #23 .. right? 

Russian Tour Guides: They helped us though, parts, directions, restraints, - Just great people!

Stopped for lunch before the border - this little guy was thrilled!

Len has a new fascination with Corn Fields

Russian- Ukraine Border.  I think they were glad to see us go 

(lots of laughs)

Kharkiv WELCOME

Lenin Statue at Kharkiv 

How cool is this?

Our accommodations - a very nice hotel 

Our New Friends:Daniel and his daughter Alexandria - Car #71

Arrived at the track to a big welcome. We did 3 laps on the asphalt & 1 lap on the dirt ( dusted out the car AGAIN) .. We won first 

Rack Track Distractions

Monte & Phil at the track - how about those flags?

Following Photos From Rally Photographer Gerard Brown

"We drove across the border from Russia today, leaving behind cheering locals in every village, and with just about every rally-crew holding extraordinary claims of the goodwill we have all received, either with help in getting cars repaired or spares tracked down.

This morning we drove 300 kms to a racing-circuit at Belgorod, and discovered a compact “Lydden-type” circuit with hardly any straights to speak of, and several inter-connected bends… get one right and you think you are doing well, only to find you are into a corkscrew of a series of bends that now tighten up on you… smooth and steady does it, and when it comes to displaying smooth, the ultra-cool Peter Lovett in the two-litre Porsche 911 takes command.

These two test sessions proved to be terrific fun, and highly enjoyable all round. Thick clouds of dust hung over the rally-cross circuit, and a helicopter took photographers for short rides overhead for airborne filming. It was good to see the little Renault 4 giving it a determined thrashing, after all the car has gone through in driving days and nights from Mongolia to catch up.

The morning was crowned by everyone meeting up a special lunch organised in an Italian restaurant, before driving on to cross the frontier into the Ukraine.

Turning into the city of Kharkiv saw us driving down streets of well-known fashion brands in well-lit shop windows, everything bustling and bright, and all far removed from the Russia of the last few days. What was unexpected was the welcome as we turned into the final street for our 5-star Palace Hotel. The road suddenly was closed off to traffic, except for the rally… past the barrier, we then turned into a large square, which had two rows of crowd-control barriers. And what a crowd! The police estimated 3,000 people had turned up to welcome the cars and cheer us all across the finish line, under a large arch. No less than five TV crews were present, plus a pack of photographers, along with girls in traditional dress. A press conference then followed… “we drove into here feeling like kings, the welcome is awesome,” said Volvo driver Phil Burgen, “it’s like having Trafalgar Square given over to a rally finish”.

The Ukraine Motorsport Federation have organised a terrific welcome for us, and now we are all in one of the best hotels so far - the best hotel in town - rounding off what has been a great day, slickly run, even the border formalities ran without a single hitch thanks to the sheets of advance-information from the Rally Office being visibly ticked off in the passport control and customs cubicles… things could not have run smoother. With the pre-planning of the Organisation, a team of blue-shirted interpreters hired specially to help at crunch-points, the entire rally crossed from Russia into the Ukraine with each car being held for just a few minutes per car, the slickest border crossing so far. Things like immigration forms, customs forms, signatures required on this and that, were all dispensed with, in an example of how borders are best organised.

So… that’s all for now, as it’s time for dinner… there is Chicken Kiev on the menu – what else, given we are now on the road to Kiev?"

Peking to Paris Rally Report

Day#22: Saratov to Voronezh

18JUN13:

"Perhaps it was the regional TV and the local newspapers who attended our press-conference who were responsible for this, but today has been all about driving down remote country roads through tiny villages where in every bus-shelter and doorways to village shops, groups of local residents were meeting up to cheer us on our way.

It started late morning and was going on all afternoon, small groups, mostly children, shop-keepers, young mothers and farm workers, standing by the roadside, taking photos as the rally passed through their community, waving at every rallycar passing by. One young lady came out of her house and excitedly ran down the garden path still dressed in her nightdress. It was if everyone felt a strong desire to connect with the Peking to Paris, even if it was only to wave us goodbye.

This has been our last full day of driving through Russian countryside, tomorrow we head for the frontier and cross into Ukraine, heading for our overnight stop at Kiev.

Today's Time Trial was on a firm dirt surface running through the long meadow-grassland of an enormous field – the term field fails to describe it properly as it is several miles in any direction. The camera-teams were there early, and sat amongst the grass, counting the orchids and the mixture of different flowers and various grasses, with just the sound of skylarks, linnets and willow-warblers as company.

A total of 55 cars tackled the Time Trial today – the others kept to the tarmac and skipped the run across the farm, keener on car preservation..

And so we say goodbye to Russia tomorrow – one thing we are all agreed upon, the help and encouragement of the local residents as we crossed Russia has been truly fantastic. Keith Ashworth needed a windscreen for his Mercedes, mentioned it to someone, he doesn’t know who, and while he was having dinner, an hour later, got a message that a windscreen was lying in front of his car out in the car park. Nobody asked for any payment, and there was no note, so, Keith doesn’t know who to thank. Well, if you are reading this who you delivered the windscreen for an old Mercedes… a big thank you from all of us, it goes down as just one example of the remarkable and friendly help we have all received as we have crossed this vast country. Without such help like this many a car would not now be ready to set out for the frontier tomorrow. It is examples like this that make this event so unique… and so memorable."

Peking to Paris Rally Report

Building Roads the Russian Way .. 

Russian Border Inspection

Passage Controls are very busy

The Woodcock Boys in Dad's Bentley 

Len is caught by Rally Photographer Gerard Brown

Day#21: Samara to Saratov

17JUN13:

“A very warm day took us across more Russian Steppes, we drove out of Samara with the reinforcements of several of those who have been playing catch-up. The sun shone and the temperature rose, in the shade of a veranda at the mid-morning coffee-break we noticed a thermometer on the wall: 36°C (97°F).

…. Some of the days have been long and demanding and the fragile-looking car looks far more suited to shorter, less gruelling event like the Trials-scene back home, than taking on a drive over challenging roads for the biggest single land-mass between two capital cities.

Reliability is clearly going to influence results as the fleet of tired rallycars continue the westward haul towards Paris. We have several mountain climbs, as Time Trials, closed down specially for us in both Austria and Switzerland, and circuit tests before then, with a gravel and dirt track across several miles of open farmland tomorrow, out final Russian Time Trial…. the pressure remains relentless.

The all-tarmac highway was rippled tarmac for most of the way, the effects of the hot summers and long periods well below freezing winters leave their mark, and today was demanding work for most, while looking light work and easy on paper.

The heat of the day caused fuel vaporisation problems for the big 14-litre La France, the crew reckoning they just could not run fast enough to keep a good flow of air flowing through the radiator, the giant wheels make easy running over bad roads, but they had to stop to jettison a side panel of the front of the car, to be carried by Sweep Andy Inskip, as an aid to better air-flow.

Others made light work of it. Ice-creams were the order of the day at a mid-day café-stop, where the Japanese team bought a large bag of cornets for Paul Heal and Ed Rutherford to distribute, and where we overheard the navigator of car 31, the Derby Bentley saloon – which is one of the most original and least modified cars in the event – sum up their day: According to Michael Dow, “We are all living the dream.”

-Peking to Paris Rally Report

Leaving Samara, Len's doing his job... 

What can I say - We can't stop ourselves

:

Day #20: Samara REST DAY

16JUN13:

“Hello..We find ourselves in Samara, central Russian city on the Volga, a massive river used as a transportation way all the way to the Black Sea. Today is a day off, everybody is cleaned up, smiling and looking good, some have a day of rest, some have a day of work, many of the competitors have parts and mechanics being flown in for repairs and repairing anybody that can rejoin us has. It is truly amazing to to hear the stories of endless days and nights sleeping under trucks and bumping along for days on end just to rejoin the party. We have been lucky, our fat old girl has stood her ground and managed to arrive here instyle and shining. We have been feeding her 95 gas regularly and when available 98, she's smiling most of the time, particularly after we gave her a bath yesterday. Our travels from Tyumen took us through the countryside of rolling hills and remains of the collective farms and villages onto Irbit where there was quite a good small motorcycle museum, again interviewed for Russian television. Had a great lunch, Russian style and off to Ekaterinburg, arriving to the best hotel yet, a brand new Hyatt. A television interview, many people and Kim's fan club were all awaiting us as we got there. The patio bar, a visit to the church of Blood, a great dinner, plenty of beverage and off to bed. We left Ekaterinburg under the treat of rain for a drive through the Ural Mountains onto Ufa. Encountered a few wedding parties at one of the passage controls only to be more photographed than ever with the bride and groom getting all kinds of pictures with the cars, it was truly hilarious. Onto Ufa, the last part of the day being a long slow trundle amongst an army of endless Trucks arriving somewhat tired. An older hotel amongst the trees, Friday night, the whole group having recovered and regrouped from the tragedy, a simply wonderful bar, look out what a party. Now onto Samara, a beautiful drive through the rolling hills and farms on a sunny warm day. Samara is a real paradox of the old way and the new way. Once a closed city because the Russian space program is based here, you can really see the struggle of the young trying to move on and the old trying to hang onto the way it was. We went for traditional Russian last night in the old part of town down along the Volga. Lots of laughs and good stories amongst new found friends. The hotel here is quite nice, upon arrival there was a full fledged wedding going on right in the lobby, what a spectacle, however the hotel was poorly prepared for all this and checking was chaotic. Today I sit here in my chair writing this note amongst all the teams doing maintenance and every 20 seconds one of them giving me a hard time because I am sitting on my ass and not getting dirty, as they all are. Administration has it's finer points. This afternoon we are trying to organize a boat ride on the Volga and we will take it from there. It' Sunday here and a nice warm sunny day with the locals mingling amongst us shooting pictures and smiling at all the goofiness and joking about that is happening as I am sitting here writing this. Bye for now, Love to all, talk at you soon.”

-Kim & Len

Brian&Chantel patching up their car

Washed the car on the way in to Samar., Someone then asked where every one had been to get their cars so dirty.

Nicky & Nadia chugging along

Richard & Shani ( the smiles say it all)

These guys are TOUGH 

The workshop in Samara - Glad we aren't dealing with this

Wanda - What can we say about Wanda .. she dances all day for free

Willy & Norbert -And when we get to Austria we are having a big beer

Only the old folks know this .. 

The Rock Star - Just a great guy

Russian Girls

Our new friends - what a great afternoon cruising on the Volga River 

We are having NO fun AT ALL

Samara - At the outside bar