Note from JG: Here’s Hayden’s latest update. Team Lola Racing is currently 10th in class and carrying a gold star rating! See the latest Peking to Paris rally results here. Over to Hayden:

Day 2 of the 2010 Peking to Paris Rally was a somewhat ordinary day, with the target of the China border town of Erenhot. Tarmac roads the whole way, except for some roadless villages and the remarkable city of Hohot: all instant city construction and all unoccupied buildings. Possibly a hundred unoccupied apartment blocks! A city for 2 million, empty.

Arrival at Erenhot was via the huge kissing dinosaurs, and not much of a test for the 356 in terms of terrain or distance.

Day 3 morning commenced with the two-and-a-half-hour challenge of the border crossing into Mongolia. A simple affair, extended by or mass of 250 people: lots of stress for those unable to accept the machinations of beauracracy. Having slipped into Mongolia, the hard work began. Ultimately over 200 km of sections over roads that can best be described as very “poor”. Hardly roads at all, but apparently the main “highway” between Erenhot and Ulaan Bataar.

We spent a total of 6 hrs 25 mins completing our 230km, testing Lola and Steven’s endurance at the wheel to the absolute max, in conditions requiring total concentration for hours at a time. We also discovered that our fuel consumption is almost double in these conditions. The campsite near Saishand was a welcome refuge, great food and service from Nomad Tour Co., who are supporting our travel across Mongolia. Sharing a beer with friends under a crystal clear Milky Way has rarely been more welcome than after such a challenging day.

We had one minor problem costing perhaps 20 minutes, when the aircraft locking nut on the left front damper came off, losing a mounting top hat too and creating a rattle that alerted us to stop and remove the wheel. We had spares, so it was quickly repaired and we were on our way. Nevertheless, we were some 109 minutes late to the end of day control; only two classic cars made it to the end-of-day control in time.  This earned a 79-minute penalty, something we could not have avoided without pushing the car to expiration. A quick spanner check in the campsite revealed no other issues.

Day 4 was the run into Ulaan Bataar, a mix of faster smoother gravel, wash-a-ways and stony ridges. A couple of Mongolian outback villages and, for the most part, following the rail track from Erenhot to Ulaan Bataar. The day was completed on a very welcome 200 km of Tarmac, dispatched at high speed to bring us to the end-of-day control exactly to the minute of the due time – no penalty.

Day 5 has been a rest day in Ulaan. We washed the car and then enjoyed the workshop hospitality of Major Drilling, where I used the facility to get Lola up in the air and make proper checks of all the suspension, spanner check, grease the hard working front spindles and make inspections of all the systems.

I can’t begin to explain how rough day 3 and part of day 4 really were! I can assure you that no 356 owner would subject their car to such extended abuse, unless planning on making this journey all the way across Mongolia. I now have an even broader appreciation of Porsche engineering and WEVO car preparation. This is a landscape that can break a brand new Toyota Landcruiser, yet we have safely traversed the first two days in a 46 year-old Porsche.

We have another 5 days of prospectively equally challenging route ahead. The Pakistan floods, which also hit Mongolia (albeit they were less publicised), have left scars on the Route last driven in December 2009. I daresay the evening notice board will hold many clues and amendments, as the 24 hr car (24 hours ahead) feeds back with intelligence to help us safely negotiate the coming day.

Day 6 we head to Karkhorin, to sleep in a Gur campsite, then 4 nights of field camping. We will see if I have any cell reception before Russia, it might be all up to John to creatively speculate from the Enduro Rally scoreboards and Skytag readings as to how are progressing.

In summary, it has been a great time so far. I’m looking forward to the next 6 days with real enthusiasm. Steven is finding his rhythm for driving these difficult roads and, with the exception of the day 3 damper nut problem, the car has been flawless in indescribable conditions! I hope reporting this does not jinx us!

More later, HB

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 5:16 pm and is filed under Blogjack, Events, Hayden, Rallying. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.