10,000 Miles of Road Hazards... and what hazards!

by Jack Sears - Hon. Secretary and Clerk of the Course.
Ahead of the competitors stretches ten thousand miles of road...not only good, bad and indifferent, but often appalling, un-sign-posted and practically non-existent.

So what will it be like for the 250 drivers who, taking turns at the wheel, have to hustle 100 cars across half the globe? A Daily Express team reconnoitred the route earlier this year, and their observations are the basis of the description which follows. One point to remember is this: Primarily, there are only time and passage controls through which competitors must pass. In some cases there is a choice of roads, elsewhere there is only one feasible route to take.
Jack Sears

The Organising Secretary of the Marathon: competed in rallies and races for 15 years. British Saloon Car Racing Champion 1958 and 1963. Retired from active competition at the end of 1965.
Roads in France and Italy are good. Conditions will be familiar to anyone who has driven on the Continent. Competitors travel from London to Dover, across the Channel, then to Calais to Paris and on to Turin through the Mount Blanc Tunnel. And even in Yugoslavia, where the control is at Belgrade, there is little to warn of the tribulations to come!

The deterioration really begins to be noticed in Bulgaria, where the road through Sofia and Plovdiv to the Turkish frontier becomes a mixture of cobbles, asphalt and concrete with frequent potholes and rough patches.

But once the Bulgarian frontier is crossed and the competitors are headed to Istanbul - this is where the transition to an earlier century is apparent.
Over the whole route from Istanbul to Bombay, apart from the major cities, the motor car is a comparatively rare object and a car travelling at high speed is a new experience to most of the people. Lorry drivers and pedestrians alike stare open-mouthed at such a sight and react incredibly slowly.

For the driver at the wheel there can be no relaxation.

In the last few miles before reaching the centre of Istanbul traffic, conditions can only be described as chaotic - a problem hopefully mitigated for most competitors by the fact that if on time, they will be passing in the early hours of the morning.

From Istanbul on to Ankara there is a special hazard. The asphalt surface is good but at the sides of the road there is a sharp step, where the edges of many layers of asphalt have built up. Competitors are "well advised to bear this in mind when overtaking heavy lorries...whose drivers' reactions are often slow and unpredictable". Indeed the antics of lorry drivers ...cutting corners with gay abandon...will be a constant trial to competitors, above all through the Bolu Pass.
The Turkish section from Sivas to Erzincan is truly a classic rallying section. Soon after Sivas the road becomes unsurfaced, although fairly smooth, with ballbearing-type gravel creating conditions which demands great skill at the wheel and a sensitive right foot on the throttle and brakes. After Refahiye, the road twists down a ledge cut in the wall of the ravine.

Once the Turkish border has been crossed into Iran, the problems initially become easier. But after the time control at Teheran, begins the section to Kabul in Afghanistan, which is certainly the longest and probably the most difficult in any motor rally.
Competitors will have the choice of crossing the Elburz Mountains to take the northerly route close to the edge of the Caspian Sea, or passing to the south of the mountains and skirting the edge of the Great Salt Desert.

The northern route, although longer, includes 300 miles of good asphalt road. The rest of it, and the whole of the southern route, is unsurfaced and rough. Car and crew will have to withstand a merciless pounding. Overtaking will be especially hazardous along the endlessly potholed, undulating, dusty track.

The northern and southern routes join south-east of Mashad. The unsurfaced road is crossed by corrugations - harmless looking, but capable of shaking a car to pieces if resonance is allowed to build up.

It is on sections like these that the skill of the driver will be especially critical. Completing the section without a time penalty will probably be achieved by only a few.

Who has the fastest car will be less important than who has done the best preparation beforehand...ensuring that every component is firmly fixed, without hidden cracks or weaknesses. Every vulnerable part of the car must be protected. Nothing must be left to chance.

The frontier into Afghanistan is crossed at Islamquila. The road which follows to Kabul is good, and getting through the frontier without loss of time may well be the principal hazard! The official advice to competitors says, with restraint, "due to the remoteness of the frontier post and the low volume of traffic, it is likely that delays will occur."

To those who have come so far, the problems of getting may seem a minor issue. But in Afghanistan, all the fuel is nationalised, and almost all is of poor quality. There are considerable distances between fuel stations and fuel is often difficult to obtain at night.

From Kabul the route leads to Sarobi over the Lataban Pass. It is a pathway of large loose stones, punctuated by jagged, unbridged streams - enough to shatter the illusions of the toughest competitors; and the suspensions of their cars at the same time! At Sarobi the roads become asphalt again, descending from the cold climate to the near-tropical area of Jalalabad.
The border into Pakistan is crossed at the Khyber Pass - not as formidable as its historic name suggests. The Khyber is only open between dawn and dusk.

Asphalt roads continue through Pakistan - but wide enough for only one vehicle. On each side of this narrow strip is a single width, unsurfaced road, frequently full of potholes and with a slippery, muddy surface, almost always obstructed by pedestrians and animals. And the last straw - oncoming trucks and buses will positively not move over!

Competitors will cross into India at Ganda Singh Swala. Driving conditions are very similar to those in Pakistan. It should not be difficult to maintain the required average speed, but eternal vigilance will be vital. A sacred cow, suddenly sidestepping, could write off all the effort and endurance that have gone into the 6,500 miles from London.

Indeed, places in the P & O liner S.S. "Chusan" at Bombay await only the first seventy cars in general classification. For the lucky seventy, begins a welcome respite... Nine days of luxurious relaxation on the cruise to Fremantle. Who is to say they haven't earned it?

Harold Dvoretksy writes of the difficulties ahead in the Australian portion of the Rally.  See At Speed through Australia
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The Ladies I How They Finished I BMC I Ford I Holden I Other Marques I Site Map I Memorabilia I Credits/About Us I Links