Teams from New Zealand and Australia drove away with top honors in this year’s Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, as the father and son team of Bruce and Harry Washington (above) from New Zealand won the overall prize for the Vintageants in their 1929 Chrysler 75 Roadster, while Mark Pickering and Dave Boddy from Australia won the Classic category in their 1973 Datsun 240Z.
For Washington the third try was the charm as he followed up a DNF and a 4th–place finish with victory in his third attempt. Son and co-driver Harry was also awarded the Philip Young Cup, presented to the best performing novice of the event, since it was is first time serving as his father’s co-pilot.
A second 1929 Chrysler 75 Roadster, in the hands of Brits Mike Thompson and Andrew Davies, took 2nd in class, ahead of countrymen Nigel Lee and Richard Turner in the 1938 Ford 62 in 3rd.
Pickering and Boddy had to withstand a tough challenge to claim the Classic category from the Anglo-French team of Ludovic Boss and Julia Colman in a 1969 Volvo Amazon in 2nd and the Aussie pairing of Murray and Adam Jackson from Australia taking 3rd place in a 1974 Mercedes 450 SLC.
The Jackson crew also won the European Cup for the Classics, while Bill Cleyndert and Jacqui Norman in a 1925 Bentley Super Sports lifted the trophy for the Vintageants.
Competitors journeyed through 11 countries, including Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, Russia and Belarus, before entering Europe to reach the finish line in the center of Paris.
“Prince Borghese, the very first winner of the Peking to Paris, said it was driving the impossible, and I’m sure all of our crews would agree,” noted ERA Rally Director Fred Gallagher, “but they arrived in Paris to a heroic welcome and should all be very proud of what they have achieved. The spirit amongst the whole rally has been fantastic with friendships forged that will last a lifetime. An amazing experience for all of us.”
The next Peking to Paris Motor Challenge will be in June 2019, over a proposed route that would take competitors into Kazakhstan and across to Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Greece. For complete information please visit www.endurorally.com
