Crown to take on the World

Not content with winning the Peking to Paris rally for the third time last year at the age of 87, Gerry Crown is about to embark on his next adventure. The remarkable Australian octogenarian has now entered the ultimate circumnavigation challenge – Rally the Globe’s eponymous Round the World.

87 year-old Gerry Crown won the 2019 Peking to Paris. His next exploit will be to rally around the world

Back in his earlier days, Crown rallied down under with enough talent to att ract factory support from Renault. But he quit the hot seat to concentrate his efforts on running one of Australia’s most well-known toys and games companies, Crown & Andrews, which he co-founded. More recently, though, he has reignited his motorsport ambitions and earned himself a global reputation as the undisputed king of endurance rallying.

Split into three separate legs, the Round the World will set out from the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, London on 23 May 2020 returning to the same spot on 19 June 2021 after 80 days and 35,000kms of epic endurance motoring through four continents in vintage and classic cars.

“To have this opportunity to rally around the world in an event which has not been attempted for 20 years is too good to resist,” enthused the ever-intrepid Crown who is co-driven by fellow-Australian Matt Bryson, who also prepares Crown’s victorious cars.

The pair’s most recent intercontinental victory came in a 1974 Rover V8-engined Leyland P76 in the post-war category, the same sturdy beast in which the pair won the 2013 Peking to Paris. Three years previously the duo had scored their first victory in a 1964 Holden EH.  Now Crown is contemplating employing his two uniquely-Australian cars on the forthcoming Round the World.  “Both cars are well suited to the rough terrains that we can expect,” he predicted.  “The P76 is more powerful but, maybe, we’ll use the Holden for the second leg across north America.”

It is the opening leg from London to Casablanca that intrigues Crown most. But he expects the marathon third leg from Vladivostok back to London to be the toughest. “Driving in Russia is always hard work,” said the man who knows better than most.

“We are thrilled that Gerry and Matt will be contesting all three legs of our Round the World adventure,” said Rally Director Fred Gallagher.  “It’s a real honour for us to have them on the entry list, and with their amazing track record, they will certainly be among the favourites for victory and what a terrific story that would be!”