Peking to Paris update: The Ups and Downs of Rallying
I’ve just had a few pics through from Hayden showing Team Lola Racing are enjoying some downs as well as ups in their attack on the Peking to Paris event.
We’ve already shipped some new tyres to the boys: 4 for Kazakhstan and 2 into Istanbul – but there’s some suspension on the way now too, as Lola snapped a trailing arm on one of the most recent stages. The welders of Khovd have been busy on the P2P air cooled brigade!
Hayden says: “We’re finding the limits of the Porsche O.E. parts and enjoying the ingenuity of those helping to repair the car. The self-proclaimed “best welder” in Khovd has done wonders with the broken rear damper mounts and broken trailing arm on the 106 VW bug.” Here we see the welding torch lying next to Lola, obligatory bottle of water on the luggage rack!
Steven is putting a Day 10 update together for us at the minute, but Lola’s current position is stationary at Khovd, having completed the Teel River stage on Sunday: day 10 of the event. The guys are 7th position overall and fourth in class. Perhaps surprisingly, they are still holding a Gold status, meaning they have been keeping to the checkpoints within allotted times. Pretty impressive!
Lola is 3,650 kms into the event with just over 10,750 kms left to run. Must seem a long way when you’re welding 45 year-old trailing arms in the Gobi desert. More news as we get it.
Finally for now, I found a candid pic of Lola and Steven on another website. The shot was taken with a compact where the lens sliders hadn’t opened properly, but it’s still nice. I love the little one sitting on the roof: it just says ‘Steven Harris’ all over. What a sweetheart!
