From ZERO to HERO as Rookies nearly conquer the legendary Peking to Paris at first attempt

Peking to Paris Motor Challenge debutants in 2024, Richard Walker and Faith Douglas MBE in their 1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Coupe, were just three short days away from conquering the legendary 37-day endurance event which runs halfway around the world, when an alternator issue stopped them in their tracks. With most of the competition over and mainly link sections left to run, it was a cruel ending for the P2P Newbies.

The Peking to Paris is often described as ‘To Drive the Impossible,’ an event in which this team had an almost unassailable lead when technical disaster struck. The Chevrolet had not missed a beat for 10,500 kms, but anything can and does happen on the only last true motoring adventure left in the world.

To say the crew of Faith and Richard were devastated was an understatement, but as newcomers to the sport of historic regularity rallying, they had nearly triumphed by learning on essential shake down events, yet with minimal build up and limited experience. With such a strong performance they had proved a point by nearly winning through application and sheer hard work.

Despite a navigational error costing the red Chevy the lead midway through the competition, their number 37 car regained top spot and was to hold the lead until the last gasp technical game spoiler. Richard Walker, a three-time former European Truck Racing Champion, had to adapt both to the new sport and a new car, but said that the build-up events were ‘essential.’

Richard; “Most certainly, acquiring information, studying various videos on the rallies was an important start, but newbies must in my opinion, compete in the other long-distance rallies like the Sahara Challenge in Morocco, the Badawi Trail or the new Gaucho Trail first. These are all perfect rallies to prepare the car and the crew as genuine shake down and build up events of the right length and difficulty.

“I learned so much on the Sahara, any weaknesses in the car, parts working loose etc, from which improvements and modifications were made, because the car was thoroughly tested on those tough events. Although there are mechanical assistance crews on the endurance rallies, it would be unfair on the sweeps, as we call them, to enter the Peking to Paris in a car without detailed preparation and just assume they are there to keep you going.

“Of course, the choice of car is up to the individual, you don't have to have a Chevrolet, although I'm a Chevy man! But you’ve got to decide whether it will be pre-war or post-war, and whether to do it like the guys from Chile in a really old car which was once a taxi! Thomas de Vargas Machuca was really brave competing in a 1914 LaFrance, but the event is open to many aspects of how a person wants to approach it.

“I am a competitive person when it comes to motorsport, so I did a little bit of investigation and soon realised that the 1938/39 Chevrolet was probably the most competitive car in the pre-war class. So, it was a relatively easy choice and became a very exciting and interesting time. We totally transformed the car from this total wreck in a backyard in Minnesota, where it had been for 12 years on its knees in the snow and ice.

“It was just so absorbing because I ended up speaking to guys in America, including sourcing spare parts for the car, and together with a friend who is a fabricator in UK who really bought into the project, we built a great car. It's nothing like a WRC car, she's a bit of a blacksmith job, but we built a car suitable car for such an endurance rally.”

Richard enjoyed some special stage rally success after experience in his youth of grass track racing and Bomber car competition in a Riley 1.5, starting when he was just 17. After his championship winning truck racing career, he met a business colleague who had completed the P2P and thought it was a good time of life to take the challenge of the Peking to Paris which was on the bucket list anyway! He persuaded his partner Faith Douglas to join him, and they entered one or two smaller events to see how it all worked.

So how and why did Faith agree to team up with Richard for such a momentous challenge?

Faith: “Well, it was actually perfect timing, as I was retiring at the time from work, and my dream was to travel and see the world, to see different countries that you wouldn't normally ever see, rather than the likes of Spain and France. Richard has travelled, but because he likes driving, it just seemed to be a match made in heaven really, that I could see countries and cultures that I've never seen, and Richard could drive.”

Faith was taking time out to talk from her busy schedule in Vietnam where she was travelling with her friends as she continued her adventures, this time without Richard.

“I was the National Enterprise Manager for RBS, so my last job was to try and encourage people to be entrepreneurial and my other role was to encourage women to get out there and believe in themselves and do more to drive themselves on. That was a while ago, but I think since then, thank goodness, there has been an explosion of women doing well across the board which is great. There are certainly some very experienced female navigators which further encouraged me to take part.

“It’s funny though, when Richard bought that car, he wasn't very good at looking on the internet, but then all of a sudden, he became an expert! He travelled everywhere, looking for information, he was reading up reports, researching the lot, the tyres, the engine, everything! He was questioning everybody solidly for hours. He was so absorbed in it and spending so much time in the workshop or away, it was like he was having an affair! But the car, the build-up, the assembly, the effort which he put in was incredible. Even down to the finest detail, down to the right screws, the bolts, whatever was needed he was on it. He was even trying to look at what he could get out in Asia if it broke down, he spent so much time on the car it was truly incredible what he achieved.”

Equally, Richard admired Faith’s ability to grasp the difficult job of learning to be a navigator. “I would say, apart from the basic preparation, you can only really start to navigate once you start to understand the Garmin GPS device, and halfway into the Badawi Trail, Faith had got it and she was away! If you're a good basic navigator and don't get sick and can follow the tulips, you are on the right path, Faith, in my opinion, understood it halfway through the Badawi, but she worked so hard, and made sure we were on it.”

It wasn’t an easy journey for Faith, despite making such strides in just the three events before the Peking to Paris. How did she find the journey, especially considering she was going into it with just blind faith?

Faith; “I think the hardest thing is the unknown, not knowing really what it was about. With Richard being very competitive, he wanted me to do well. I was trying to find the information on how I could improve, but I did find it quite challenging to find the information. I did the HERO Training events, but I found sometimes it seemed to be overtaken with people who've been doing lots of rallies wanting to ask more advanced questions.

“It didn't seem to touch on the basics as much as I wanted, so I struggled a bit on the Sahara Challenge and made many mistakes. However, that's all part of anything you do in life, the learning, as long as you accept that you're going to have to learn the hard way because you have gone from zero. So, when we came to the Badawï Trail, I felt more excited because I wasn't as frightened.

“For instance, the first thing I did on the Sahara was mark up nearly every arrow in the book, I saw other people with the marker pens, and I was marking up everything! Then you realise that following the route is the most important thing, this is what they keep reminding you. But that's another thing, that you feel more relaxed if you stick to the route and it gives you confidence.

“With Richard having a good feel for the car, it helped with keeping to the average speeds, even though we have to work them out, he's got a good idea. So if I was calling them wrong, he would feel it and tell me.

“I think it was more the fear of letting Richard down, that was the biggest problem. I would have probably been a bit more blasé and gone in there with guns blazing thinking, oh well, never mind. Richard was constantly wanting to do well, and so I really felt I had to keep trying hard and learn as much as I could. I think it all fell into place in the Badawi, but it also helps with HERO teamwork. We joined a few people who did the Sahara with us, and the journey with that little group of people was not just about camaraderie, but also learning. You can ask questions, from which we gained so much on the journey, and we were all together which was absolutely wonderful.”

“I was now ready, and off we went from the Great Wall of China start, but early on I made a mistake on the Peking to Paris Rally. I didn't appreciate how important seconds were at this stage, not having the correct rally time, we lost three minutes in the early stages. I just said, look, it's a long way Richard, how hard is it to get those minutes back? Then I realised the next day, immediately, how hard it was going to be to get those minutes back!

“So I think the hardest thing was Richard pushing me, because he was up there, and he's a winner. I have a bit of a softer approach to things, but I'm still competitive. I think it's in everybody, and I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't competitive. Richard found my attitude a bit different to how he approaches it, so we had a bit of difficulty there. But someone told me on our first rally ‘what’s said in the car, stays in the car,’ I think that helped as you didn’t have time to dwell on what had gone wrong the previous day.”

Richard; “Well, there was a bit of a male and female clash, but Faith is quite a strong character and didn’t always take note of what I was saying, but then why should she? But she grasped the importance of rally time and went from strength to strength.

“Everyone says they are here for the next six weeks, want to do well and get to Paris. But whatever comes at you, you find a way around it, it puts you into survival mode and that's one of the exciting things about the event. I presume that's why people climb mountains or do silly things. I'd rather be in motorsport and drive the Peking to Paris than climb Everest, but it just puts you in a place where you have to cope, and human instinct helps you make changes.”

Faith; “The one thing I would say, when I speak to a lot of women in particular who think about doing these long rallies, they all say, ‘well, how do you cope being in the car all day with someone? I can't even go to London in a car unless we've got the radio on’, you know it's a fear for a lot of people. For me, being in a car with another person on a long rally, time just flies. There are silences, you don't speak for maybe quite a long time, because you're looking at your next part of the book, but there's always something for you to do as a navigator, it keeps you occupied.”

Richard and Faith concluded with further valuable advice for Rookies who are considering tackling the big one, the Paris to Peking Motor Challenge.

Richard: “Driving a slightly slower pace would be good, if you keep up a fast pace you are more likely to come off or break down. Getting to know the car well is important whilst also remembering it is six weeks, not a stag party for the weekend. They've got to have a good relationship with their partner in the car as you're in it for the long haul. Some days we were just running on adrenalin, we both lost weight, we even felt younger at the end of it! We enjoyed a lovely competitive event, and I thought I was on it, and felt fantastic at the end, despite the late despair! I would recommend the P2P wholeheartedly!”

Faith added; “One of the things on the driving is that everyone thinks you're racing, especially with reference to Richard, but I said no, in fact, the majority of the time you're actually having to keep your driver back, because those average speeds are not about going fast but slower, even down to third gear at times and a lot slower. So again, that should give people comfort knowing they don't want to enter something if they think everyone's like Richard and can race. Of course, there are certain times when they have to race around tracks, but everyone likes that.”

The next HERO-ERA marathon for Faith and Richard is the new Gaucho Trail which was sold out just a few weeks after it opened. “We wanted to do another long distance event and we haven't been to South America, so two big boxes will be ticked” said Richard.

The 1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Coupe, although North American in origin, will be going back to South America where Juan Manuel Fangio cut his teeth rallying in a similar pre - war Chevy. Fangio’s road rallying success in South America propelled him to Grand Prix stardom, hence they are often referred to as ‘Fangio Chevys.’ Before that, the Flying Scotsman beckons for the crew. Faith is a little bit more cautious about that;” I’m not afraid of the big rallying, I think it's the other way around. This will be a little bit more intricate and harder, so I'm more worried about Scotland in April than I am about going to South America!”