CHEVY MASTERS EPIC RALLY

HERO-ERA's Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, from 17 May-22 June, was the event's ninth running.

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From Beijing to the grounds of the Gendarmerie Nationale in Paris, 14,889km (9252 miles) later, the world's toughest endurance rally for vintage and classic cars lived up to its billing. With the oldest competitor being a 1917 American LaFrance and the youngest a 1984 Toyota Hilux, vehicles were split into categories, with only Pioneer, Vintage and Vintageant entrants eligible for overall awards.

Tony Sutton and Andrew Lawson (Chevrolet Master Coupe) were the leaders at the end of day one, from Brian Scowcroft and Mark Gilmour (Chevrolet Fangio Roadster) and Marc Schätzle and Sandro Tanner (Ford Model 91A).

Event debutants Jorge Perez Companc and his son Cristobal (Chevrolet Master Coupe) got ahead on day two and stayed there as, by day three, Sutton/Lawson were 13th. In the following days, Scowcroft/Gilmour challenged for and took - the lead.

By the end of day 26, however, in the Turkish city Erzurum, the Perez Compancs held a margin of around 7 mins at the front, but an engine fire caused them to be late to a control and they incurred a 30-minute penalty, dropping them to third and promoting Tony Rowe and Mark Delling (Ford Coupe 91A) into the lead, with Sutton/Lawson hot on their heels.

The latter crew was ahead by 11 secs at the end of day 29 in Istanbul and never looked back, winning from Rowe/Delling and the Perez Compancs.

In the Classic category, Gerd Bühler and Laurenz Feierabend (Porsche 911E) led from François and Cecile Abrial (BMW 320), the first of several crews to head the field. Among them were Harold Goddijn and Corinne Vigreux in another 911, with a near-2-minute lead over Brian Palmer/David Bell (Peugeot 504 Coupé) come the end of day 28 at Ankara. But 24 hours later, Palmer/Bell were ahead and they held on to win from Goddijn/Vigreux and Steve Osborne/Robert Smith (Ford Escort RS 1600).

Variety spices up the championship for well-travelled Clubmans crews