For two weeks, we talk about two events that have forever entered the history of world motorsport. Next in line is London-Mexico. On the testing of technology and people on the way from the British capital to the Mexican — in our new issue of Living Legends.
On April 19, 1970, 96 crews left London for a journey of more than 25 thousand kilometers to the capital of Mexico. Less than half of them will cross the finish line, but we will give more details on that later.
After the success of the London-Sydney rally of 1968, the owner of The Daily Mirror Max Aitken suggested holding an event even more ambitious than it was two years ago. From the capital of Great Britain to the capital of Mexico in 39 days! A crazy initiative that resonated in the hearts of motorists from all over the world.
Representatives of not only European countries, but also South America — Argentina and Bolivia, as well as Australia, started the epic journey. Among the 96 crews that took off at Wembley Stadium, there were five crews from the USSR at Moskvich 412: Ivan Astafiev/Alexander Safonov/Gennady Garkusha (No. 21), Leonid Potapchik/Yuri Lesovsky/Eduard Bazhenov (No. 28), Sergey Tenishev/Valentin Kislykh/Valery Shirochenkov (No. 40), Gunar Holm/Kastitis Girdauskas/Vladimir Bubnov (No. 71) and, finally, Emanuel Lifshits/Victor Schavelev (No. 84). Technical support was provided to them by only two brigades of mechanics, headed by Karl Sochnov.
If after reading the latter paragraph you smiled maliciously, then we will disappoint you. “Moskvich” cars participating in the rally-raid, significantly differed from their relatives who left the assembly line of the AZLK. A safety cage, crankcase protection, oil coolers, springs from station wagons and additional 75-litre fuel tanks were installed on the cars. In addition, the seams of the body were additionally welded. Engines for a difficult journey through two dozen countries were developed at the Ufa Motor Plant. «The brainchild» of the constructors from Ufa gave out 80-81 hp against 75 hp in comparison with standard modification.
If the distance was several times shorter, the Soviet crews would have been significantly less likely to get to the TOP-20, but everything turned out almost as successfully as ever. During the route through South America, leader Andrew Cohen, the winner of the 1968 London-Sydney rally raid, five crews on the Porsche, four on the Mercedes and five of the six Citroens that started in London, dropped out of the struggle. Autoexpert team lost two cars. Crew 21 fell off a cliff in an attempt to catch up with the Girdauskas’ crew, and Lifshits/Shchavelev did not manage to come to one of the TC («time control» — editor’s note) at the estimated time.
Thus, after 39 days, on May 27, at one of the largest football stadiums in the world — Azteca — 23 out of 96 crews, who had set off from London, came to the finish line. The three remaining crews from the USSR took 12th, 17th and 20th places, respectively. At the same time, despite the rather modest result in the individual competition, Autoexpert became the third in the team classification behind Ford and British Leyland. Who won this difficult journey, which «took away» so many crews? — you ask. And we will answer that the victory was taken by the crew, which, perhaps, was best prepared for such a trip — world rally champion Hannu Mikkola and professional co-pilot Gunnara Palma from Sweden.