Classic & Sports Car UK – September 2019

The‘GreatestMotoringAdven-

ture’liveduptoitsbilling,asthe

EnduranceRallyAssociation’s

PekingtoParistestedits 106 crews

across 36 daysfrom2 June-7July.

After 8500 milesand 12 countries,

AustraliansGerryCrownandMatt

Brysonclaimeda thirdPekingto

ParisvictoryintheirLeylandP76,

builtbyBryson.Thefeatwaseven

moreimpressivegiventhatCrown

is a sprightly87.Incredibly,despite

thevastdistancecovered,their

winningmarginwasjust2 mins 33

secsaheadof the 1973 Porsche 911

ofAmericansDavidandSusan

Danglard;thenextthreespotswere

occupiedbyDatsun240Zs.

Justreachingthefinishat Place

Vendômeis a hugeachievement,

buttherewereonlythreeretire-

ments.Sixvintageand 14 classic

crewswereawardedgoldmedals,

andtherewerestoriesthroughout

thefield.A mere2.5milesintothe

rally,MitchGrossfromtheUSA

andhisBritishnavigator,Christo-

pherRolph,wereforcedtoa halt

to adjusttheburnersof Gross’ 1910

WhiteMMPullmansteamcar.

Despitea trioofenginerebuilds

and nearlyrunning outof fire

extinguishers,theysawthefinish

andseta worlddistancerecordfor

SPORT

September 2019 Classic & Sports Car 33

steam-poweredcarsin theprocess.

More historywasmade when

BelgianDakarveteransAnton

GonnissenandHermanGelan

completedtherallyona Contal

Mototrithree-wheeler, 112 years

afterAugustePons’failedattempt

ontheoriginalevent.

Itwasapt,giventhemarque’s

centenary,thatBritsGrahamand

MarinaGoodwindominatedthe

vintageclassintheir 1925 Bentley

SuperSports,notlettinga lackof

oilpressuresoonaftertheKazakh

border holdthemback.Artur

LukasiewiczandBillCleyndert

(ChryslerCM6)werethesecond

vintageteamfromKeithandNorah

Ashworth(Bentley4½LeMans).

TheSpiritoftheRallyawardwent

toPatrickDebusseréandBernard

VereenooghefromBelgiumin

their 1933 DodgeRoadster.

HISTORY MADE ON EPIC ERA RALLY

A special success for Gonnissen and Gelan Steam-powered record was set (on left) Third for Chris and Tjerk Bury’s Datsun Z

It was an Aussie affair at

the front, as Gerry Crown

and Matt Bryson in their

Leyland P76 took a third

Peking to Paris victory on

the rally’s seventh running

GERARD BROWN/FRANCESCO RASTRELLI

Graham and Marina

Goodwin won the vintage

class in their 1925 Bentley