Press Release
On 31 January 1907, a challenge was published in the French daily newspaper Le Matin that caused a stir: “Will any one agree to go, this summer, from Paris to Beijing by motor-car?”
Initially, this question may have caused readers to shake their heads. After all, it was only 21 years since Karl Benz had invented the automobile with his three-wheeled “Patent Motor Car”. The first car race from Paris to Rouen had only taken place 13 years ago and was completed by just 15 of the 21 participants, including nine vehicles with Panhard-Levassor engines licensed by Daimler and a 3 hp “Vis-à-Vis” Benz. And now to go on a travel venture from Paris to Beijing, a hundred times that distance?
But the initiators at Le Matin were serious. They wanted to establish the technical superiority of the automobile over the horse and capture the spirit of adventure of the time. In just over a month, the starting line-up for the “Raid”, as the race soon became known, already included 62 drivers and mechanics.
However, ambition and courage began to fade as the date when the ship would set sail for China drew closer – the race had been changed to head in the reverse direction due to unfavourable weather conditions and the departure point was set as Beijing. Only eleven daring people and five vehicles now remained, rolling up to the starting line in Beijing on 10 June 1907.
Prince Scipione Borghese started the course in a 40 hp Italian Itala. Charles Godard drove a 15 hp Dutch Spyker, accompanied by a reporter from Le Matin. Two other cars, 10 hp French De Dion Boutons, were driven by the Frenchmen Collignon and Cormier, and another Frenchman by the name of Auguste Pons lined up in a three-wheeled 6 hp Contal.
Fully loaded with supplies, spare parts, tools and equipment for any rescues that might be needed, the teams were ready to start the adventure on the morning of 10 June 1907, a Monday. Ahead of them lay 10,000 miles and scores of challenges, many of which are unimaginable today.
The Start of an Adventure
The very first stage en route towards the Mongolian Plateau with its impassable mountainous terrain posed a critical test for the Raiders. There were hardly any marked routes after this point, so the drivers had to find their own way. Many helping hands were frequently needed to cross desolate bridges with no approach roads, narrow and almost impassable ravines and muddy, slippery uphill and downhill slopes. Carriers with bamboo sticks, horse riders and farmers with their ox carts were waiting for the automotive pioneers at the planned intermediate stops and at the end of each stage, making sure that the long-distance drivers did not have to give up even when their vehicles reached their limits. The three-wheeled Contal experienced particular difficulties. With a single-wheel drive, low kerb weight and load distribution which had been made worse by additional loading, “natural” limits were imposed on its traction. An empty tank in the Gobi desert meant an early end for Pons and his passenger Foucault. The stray Frenchmen came close to dying from thirst, but were saved by nomads after one and a half days.
The “Raid” Becomes a Race
By now, the shared adventure had become a real race. Prince Scipione Borghese, who was in the lead, had resolved to go around Lake Baikal in his Itala on the way to Irkutsk instead of crossing by ferry, which the Raid committee had authorised in advance as the route was unknown. On 28 June, he left the ferry port of Missowaya at Lake Baikal by road – but the road had not existed for a long time. The former lane was overgrown and blocked by fallen trees and disused, ramshackle bridges often collapsed after the Itala had crossed them. When one such collapse nearly ended his race, Borghese seized the moment at the next river: he used a bridge of the recently-opened Trans-Siberian Railway to cross the Mishika and jolted along the tracks in his 40 hp Itala, with half the car between the tracks, and the other on the side border. Once the diplomat had managed to obtain official authorisation from the Governor-General of Siberia to drive on the tracks of the Trans-Siberian Railway, it was “full steam ahead” towards Irkutsk.
The group of French motorists also arrived in Irkutsk by rail in their De Dion Boutons and the Spyker two days after the prince, after waiting in vain for a ferry at Lake Baikal. Shortly after their arrival, Godard reported technical problems with his Spyker: the magneto ignition was faulty, the gearbox housing on the rear axle had sprung a leak and the extremely short rear axle was not suitable for the roads ahead. It gave up in Cheremkhovo, just outside Irkutsk. Faced with this situation, Godard decided on a daring plan. Although the Dutch Spyker mechanic Bruno Stephan was already on his way to help him, he travelled around
1,350 kilometres west by train with the broken-down vehicle to the city of Tomsk, which was home to the best technical academy in Russia. His intention was to return to Cheremkhovo and continue the journey in accordance with the rules after the vehicle was successfully repaired.
The Prince’s Triumphal Procession
In the meantime, there was no stopping Scipione Borghese. He owed his extensive lead to the superior power of his car and the daily maintenance carried out by his skilled mechanic Ettore Guizzardi. Borghese and his team arrived in Moscow to a rapturous reception by the public on Wednesday, 27 July. He was now so far in the lead that he was able take his time and attend various receptions and dinners in his honour, gain new strength and even satisfy the requests of his friends and supporters: the prince honoured the local Beijing-Paris committee during a trip to the Russian capital of St. Petersburg, far away from the planned route.
The weather on arrival in Paris, 62 days after leaving Beijing, was the same as at the start of the long-distance race. Although it was grey and rainy, this did not put a dampener on the celebrations. The victorious Itala entered Paris to the sound of the triumph march from Aida, played by a brass band from the top deck of an open-top bus driving in front. Thrilled onlookers stood shoulder-to-shoulder in rows of twelve, with guardsmen struggling to keep the road in front of the offices of Le Matin clear so that the Itala could even reach the winners’ rostrum.
While all this transpired, the other participants were still fighting for every kilometre in Russia. They later described the 400 kilometres between Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod as the worst section. It rained constantly, there were no more roads and they covered just 38 kilometres on the first day due to the adverse conditions. The roads west of Moscow were better and the Spyker, which was faster, was given the task of finding and securing petrol supplies from the local chemists. Justifying the view of the other participants, who had praised Godard’s character on several occasions, he did not use the superiority of his car as an excuse to just up and leave his competitors as Borghese had done in the desert.
An Adventurous Ending
Nevertheless, the French Le Matin was watching the speed of the Dutch Spyker with concern. The aim of the “Raid”, which had been to promote the French automotive industry, seemed to be in permanent jeopardy once the winner’s trophy had been presented to the Italians. So, the Managing Director of Le Matin promptly had Charles Godard arrested for pre-race irregularities upon entering France.
However, Spyker boss Jakobus Spijker was prepared for this and put a factory driver behind the wheel for the final stages. The two De Dion Boutons and the Spyker arrived in Paris on 30 August 1907, nearly three weeks after Prince Borghese. The welcome reception for Georges Cormier, Victor Collignon and the teams following their 15,000 kilometres of stresses and strains was just as enthusiastic as that held for the winner. At the end of the first long-distance race in automotive history, they were all winners.
