We've arrived in Beijing and so has the car

Friday 10th June

Teams have been arriving this week and we got into Beijing early on Wednesday morning. There was time for a little acclimatisation before collecting the car from a warehouse about 40 kms outside the heart of Beijing.

We were bussed in 5 coaches departing at 30 minute intervals from the rally hotel - the Shangri-La on the 3rd Ring Road. There was intense nervousness on arrival at the warehouse: would our car start after 2 months of travelling from Tilbury via the Suez Canal to Shanghai and thence to the anonymous warehouse on a Beijing industrial estate.

The car did start and for 10 minutes there was complete contentment. Then the engine began to fade and we stopped - petrol had run out. Quick switch from Tank A to Tank B and we were on our way to the nearest petrol station. Problems solved? Not quite.

The 30 km journey back to the hotel should have taken about 40 minutes but actually took twice that long.

Two issues have dominated our minds for the last two days:
a. what can we do to cure the sporadic misfiring: we think it's a result of petrol vapourising in very hot conditions and so depriving the engine of a steady stream of fuel; and
b. There is a nasty judder when the car hits a deep pothole (and there are quite a few in Beijing). It lasts a few seconds and is cured by stamping on the brake: just about manageable in Beijing but possibly not on tracks in the Gobi.

We have remedies in mind and will test those tomorrow with the official start of the rally from the Great Wall.