The RAID Suisse-Paris took place for the 27th time from August 24 to 27, 2017. A total of 80 cars were registered, with many women and young drivers behind the wheel.
From Basel to Paris
The route took participants along the most beautiful roads through Franche-Comté and across Burgundy to Paris. Highlights of the carefully selected route were the arrival in Dôle, the stage finish with the lunch buffet in the Abbaye de Fontenay and the finish, Château de Raray, which offered the rally entourage a more than appropriate setting on arrival, just outside Paris. It was not allowed to drive into Paris because the city regime is known to take rigorous action against old cars with their non-catalytic converter-cleaned vehicles.
The Abbaye de Fonteney, which dates back to the 12th century, also presented itself to the participants from its best side. The former monastery has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1981, so it was a good fit for the cultural assets on wheels.
Largely good weather conditions
Lots of sunshine and temperatures of around 30 degrees were ideal for most of the participants, although driving in the closed cars, which were not equipped with air conditioning, did tire out one or two teams.
And everyone got up early, on Friday it was time to crawl out of bed at 06:00, with the last vehicles not arriving at the hotel until 21:00. For some, the extensive program was no walk in the park.
Surprise victory
Long sections, tricky special stages and hot temperatures - you wouldn't guess a winner in a pre-war vehicle straight away. But Claude and Andrea Schwegler overcame all difficulties in their 1934 Chevrolet Master DA and won with just 63 penalty points. This made the car the oldest RAID winner of all time!
Christian and Fabian Thomi came second in the Sunbeam 20/60 from 1925, an even older car.
Third place went to Thomas and Martin Engler in a 1973 MG B, who also won the Young Raiders classification.
The Ladie's Cup went to Arlette Müller and Sabina Schneider in a 1934 Bentley T.T. Racer 4.5; the women's team in the not at all lady-like pre-war Bentley also came 4th overall with just 125 penalty points.
The last RAID of its kind?
The 27th RAID Suisse-Paris also marked the end of a piece of history, as the organization is considering far-reaching changes to the event concept for the coming years. The declining number of registrations, the increasing number of competing events and the desire of many loyal RAID participants to make it a little less strenuous are forcing the RAID organizers to realign the event. It will be interesting to see what the people around H. A. Bichsel come up with for the future.
