Mazda Route3 Challenge 2013: Hatchbacks arrive in Moscow

The convoy of all-new Mazda3 cars participating in the 'Mazda Route3 - Hiroshima to Frankfurt Challenger Tour 2013' have safely arrived in Moscow after about 7,770 miles and 23 exhausting days on the road. The hatchbacks are holding up superbly, proving to be extremely reliable and robust. Jeremy Thomson, Managing Director, Mazda UK commented, “The two things I find most remarkable about this epic journey are firstly how well the all-new Mazda3 cars are performing under conditions that have been worse than anyone expected, and also how welcoming the people have been. Everywhere that the Mazda Route3 teams have gone, people smile and wave and sometimes even applaud. The all-new Mazda3 is proving to be a real attraction.”

OneShift Editorial Team

04 Sep 2013

On route to Moscow, tour highlights in the few short breaks between driving sessions included a stop at Russia’s largest power plant and driving a section of the Chuysky Tract, one of the world’s oldest roads. Tour participants also took a break at Chany Lake, a large body of freshwater that locals claim is home to a man-eating sea monster. Further west, the Mazda3 teams visited the Kungur Ice Caves, with their sprawling caverns and bizarre ice formations.

Crossing the Ural Mountains from Asia into Europe, crews stopped at two of Russia’s most famous kremlins (Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod), before arriving on Saturday evening in the Russian capital.

In Moscow, the Mazda Route3 convoy joined in the Festival of Speed (an event which aims to become Russia’s answer to the Goodwood Festival), and stole the show at this year’s motorsport event – if not on the track then certainly in the hearts of the 10,000-strong crowd at the Luzhniki sports complex.

The last group of tour participants hit the road for the seventh leg of the epic journey, which will take them through the final 1,550 miles to the Frankfurt Motor Show – via three European capitals (Minsk, Warsaw and Berlin) – where four of the eight cars will be put on display.

Credits: Oneshift News Team