Royal Road Rally Aids Burn Center

Royal Road Rally Aids Burn Center 

“If the Prince is the driver, then who is the passenger?” quipped one Russian newspaper headline. 

It was, indeed, a curious sight. His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent arrived in Red Square at the head of a rally of 12 vintage, 1920’s Bentley racing cars, having driven all the way from the old racetrack at Brooklands, just outside London. The extraordinary nine-day journey took them through Denmark, where the drivers had dined with the Danish Royal Family, and on to Sweden and Finland, before their arrival in Moscow on the 14th of July.

The rally was for a worthy cause. Prince Michael is patron of the British charity Friends of Russian Children, and the event was organized to raise funds for the Speransky Children’s Hospital in Moscow, the main target of the charity’s work. The charity seeks to improve facilities at the hospital—Russia’s principal burns referral center—and to provide much needed preventive education for Russian children on avoiding fire and burn injuries. 

Castrol was a principal sponsor of the rally, with the drivers also picking up a large part of the bill. In addition to their initial contributions, the drivers, who were in many cases owners of the antique cars, participated in informal “auctions” that Prince Michael held at dinner every night along the route. They bid for everything from rally plates to the right to sit next to His Royal Highness as the rally entered Red Square.

Twelve vintage racing cars travelling several thousand miles were destined for at least one major mishap, and it finally came just outside of Helsinki. The victim was “Old Number One,” arguably the most famous Bentley of all, and the inspiration for a recent book. The propeller shaft coupling cracked—the drive shaft which connects the engine to the back wheels. According to Driver Gordon Wylie, he and his partner were lucky that the shaft, given the terrific velocity at which it spins, didn’t fly off and rip through the floor of the car, taking them with it.

They were also lucky that the breakdown came in the land of the midnight sun—they were able to work through the night with the RAC mechanics who accompanied the rally (the RAC is a British version of AAA) to reweld the fractured parts. They then chugged along at the rear of the convoy until St Petersburg, hoping that the shaft, which was an original piece from 1929, had just a few more miles left in it. As soon as they arrived, they stripped the car down, its assorted pieces on display in the street in front of the Astoria hotel where they were staying. There they waited for the replacement part (express shipped from the UK) to clear customs—no mean feat in itself in St Petersburg on a Sunday. Ultimately, they fitted the piece back on and stayed on schedule for Moscow. Most importantly, they avoided being hauled the rest of the distance in the dreaded trailer that shadowed the rally and was the secret fear of every driver.

In Moscow, the drivers were met by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov near St. Basil’s Cathedral, where Prince Michael took the mayor off on a surprise, white-knuckle ride around the Kremlin, giving the mayor’s bodyguards the fear of their lives. From there, the convoy headed for the hospital. 

Dr. Peter Prodeus, Director of Speransky Hospital, led an emotional tour of the hospital and its various wards, which are filled with children of all ages, including infants. The sadness of the various cases was countered by the obvious pride that the staff have about the many technical improvements that have been made to the hospital in recent years. One major achievement several years ago was the commissioning of a state-of-the-art, industrial-style laundry, critical for helping fight the danger of infection in burn cases. This was a result of the charity’s work. 

After the tour, there was a charming, chaotic scene that looked like something out of Keystone Cops, with Bentleys racing around the grounds, as children, doctors, and nurses each jumped in and out for a ride. 

The final night, the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce organized a charity dinner at beautiful Kuskovo Palace. When night began to fall, at the end of the meal, there was a series of lengthy toasts. Several of the drivers grew restless, unable to resist the cars, which peered at them quietly from the dark, on display for guests. The drivers had lived in their cars for nine days, and, after a few vodkas, the temptation was too powerful to resist. Paul Veenhuijzen, dubbed the “Flying Dutchman” by other members of the rally, was soon in his car, and the other drivers were quickly after him. The cars began racing noisily around the paths of the palace grounds, clouds of dust floating in their old headlights.  RL

 —Simon Joseph

For more information about the charity, contact: Friends of Russian Children, Chichester House, 278 High Holborn, London WC1V 7ER, phone +44-171-404-7766, fax 44-171-404-7788.