Mazda3 convoy passes half-way point of Cross-Continental Drive

After almost 8,000 kilometres and 21 days on the road, the convoy of eight all-new 2013 Mazda3s have passed the half-way point of the 2013 Mazda3 Hiroshima to Frankfurt Challenger Tour.

4,500 kilometres out from Moscow and with three countries still to conquer before reaching Frankfurt; the Mazda3 hatchbacks are now carving their way across Siberia through some of the most demanding roads in the world.

Currently in Barnaul, Russia – a small city near the borders of Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China – the flat roads experienced earlier in the 15,000km event have been replaced with the lush mountain terrain of the Altai region.

Heavy Siberian traffic and road works saw the pace drop to a near crawl, particularly when the convoy was forced to follow nose-to-tail trucks as they climbed over the Altai mountain ranges, forcing the event’s first night driving.

The fourth leg of the tour also saw contaminated fuel pumped into one of the Mazda3s SKYACTIV–G 2.0-litre petrol engines. However, that didn’t stop the convoy as the cars pushed on.

After turning off the Chuysky Trakt, one of Russia’s oldest roads linking Russia to Mongolia, the group continued along a stretch of poorly maintained dirt road covered with pot holes and large rocks, with one of the Mazda3s sustaining some damage to the suspension.

With journalists representing media outlets from all over the world, including Top Gear Australia, the fourth stage was the longest out of seven and included the most testing day of driving experienced so far.

The 2013 Mazda3 Hiroshima to Frankfurt Challenger Tour is an event modelled on long-distance drives held in 1977 and 1990. Over 30 days, eight All-New Mazda3 hatchbacks will complete seven stages across two continents, five countries and through over 30 cities. The endurance drive provides the perfect testing ground to test the All-New Mazda3’s reliability, durability and performance in some of the world’s toughest driving conditions.

The 2,130 kilometre fifth stage of event continues west to Tyumen, Russia.