Today marks the end of the longest scheduled break during the Peking to Paris motor challenge: 48 hours of free time in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Although it was replaced as the capitol city by Astana in 1997, Almaty remains the largest commercial center in the country. Leaving early in the morning, the teams will set out on a 700km/430mi journey across Kazakhstan!
Dozens of teams have required repairs in the past week, with issues ranging from headlights bouncing off along the unpaved route to engine fires -- a competitor's car ultimately burned to the ground and #60 (seen above) suffered a similar, but much smaller, fire as well. Because all of the vehicles are vintage, repairing and replacing parts is challenging, especially in rural central Asia. We hope that the next leg of the journey will be a smooth (and safe!) one, with only paved roads for 400km of the 700km route - yikes!
Total distance travelled: 5,578 kilometers / 3,466 miles
Total distance remaining: 8,782 kilometers / 5,456 miles
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