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After hearing some of my rally stories on the factory visit weekend a few people asked if I would post some more photos; so I'm finally getting around to that! Sorry it's taken a while, I've been off to Norway on a supercar tour and then it was the Goodwood Festival of Speed weekend here in the UK. I saw Hans VR in the supercar paddock with the orange aileron he drove off in after our factory visit. Photos of those to come but back to the rally stuff.
The first rally I did was the Plymouth - Banjul challenge, a 4200mile drive from the UK to Gambia. The rules state that cars must cost under £100. I bought an old Beetle for £99 which hadn't run for 15 years. Our first breakdown was 20minutes from home and there were many more. We made it to Gambia though and had so much fun that I got the rally bug!
my co-driver, Claire at the roadside in Morocco with our Beetle "Poldi"
In Tangier a Landrover driver told us we'd need a 4x4 to get over the Atlas mountains. We decided to prove him wrong
Being overtaken by French cyclists in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Not much room for overtaking in the mountains
Narrow roads cling precariously to the steep mountainsides with little or nothing to prevent a plunge into the valleys below
Snow at the top, heading into the Tizi n Test pass, the highest point in the Atlas mountains.
On the Beach, Western Sahara
Daklha, Western Sahara with the other teams we travelled most of the way with.
Crossing a sandy track through a minefield between Western Sahara and Mauritania. The Beetle proved a great off-roader but the Fiat Uno didn't fair so well.
We spent 3 days off-road in the Mauritanian Sahara. The ambulance was another rally team, they bought it for £500 on ebay
Desert campsite
Where Poldi got his name from. The sticker was on the back when we rescued him from the scrap heap. At a campsite in Senegal a German man came up to us and said "I think I know this car" Walked around the back and pointed "Yes! Poldi! I remember Poldi!" Small world, it turned out he'd owned a VW dealership in Germany and this was on of the cars which had passed through his hands.
Watch out for the next installment.....UK to Mongolia, in a Nissan Micra!
The first rally I did was the Plymouth - Banjul challenge, a 4200mile drive from the UK to Gambia. The rules state that cars must cost under £100. I bought an old Beetle for £99 which hadn't run for 15 years. Our first breakdown was 20minutes from home and there were many more. We made it to Gambia though and had so much fun that I got the rally bug!
my co-driver, Claire at the roadside in Morocco with our Beetle "Poldi"
In Tangier a Landrover driver told us we'd need a 4x4 to get over the Atlas mountains. We decided to prove him wrong
Being overtaken by French cyclists in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Not much room for overtaking in the mountains
Narrow roads cling precariously to the steep mountainsides with little or nothing to prevent a plunge into the valleys below
Snow at the top, heading into the Tizi n Test pass, the highest point in the Atlas mountains.
On the Beach, Western Sahara
Daklha, Western Sahara with the other teams we travelled most of the way with.
Crossing a sandy track through a minefield between Western Sahara and Mauritania. The Beetle proved a great off-roader but the Fiat Uno didn't fair so well.
We spent 3 days off-road in the Mauritanian Sahara. The ambulance was another rally team, they bought it for £500 on ebay
Desert campsite
Where Poldi got his name from. The sticker was on the back when we rescued him from the scrap heap. At a campsite in Senegal a German man came up to us and said "I think I know this car" Walked around the back and pointed "Yes! Poldi! I remember Poldi!" Small world, it turned out he'd owned a VW dealership in Germany and this was on of the cars which had passed through his hands.
Watch out for the next installment.....UK to Mongolia, in a Nissan Micra!
W!! Amazing photographs, thanx for sharing!
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