China's First International Motor Sports Event Departed from Tsim Sha Tsui

Every year since 2004, the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix has been held at the Shanghai International Circuit—albeit with a four-year hiatus between 2020 and 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have forgotten, however, that China’s first-ever international motorsport event directly involved Hong Kong.

In 1981, Phil Taylor, head of the Hong Kong Automobile Association, and Qi Jincheng, chairman-general of the China Motor Sports Association, first envisioned a motorsport event stretching from the edge of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong to Tiananmen Square in Beijing. For many locals living along the rural routes, the rally cars were the first high-tech Western machinery—and the drivers the first foreign faces—they had ever seen.

On September 15, 1985, the green flag dropped in Tsim Sha Tsui on the southern tip of Kowloon. Finnish rallying legend Hannu Mikkola and his co-driver Arne Hertz were the first to tackle the epic 3,400-kilometre (2,112-mile), four-day race aboard their legendary No. 1 Audi Quattro A2.

Alongside factory entries from Audi, Nissan, Toyota, and Ford, ten teams from Hong Kong and one from Mainland China—featuring the legendary Lu Ningjun—took part. While Mikkola ultimately won the race, Lu claimed a spectacular victory as the runner-up in Group N. Out of 35 starters, only 23 vehicles successfully crossed the finish line in Beijing.

The massive success of the Hong Kong to Beijing Rally proved the country could handle the logistical nightmares of global sporting events, paving the way for numerous street circuits and, eventually, the Formula One Grand Prix in Shanghai.