Green drivers return from epic Mongolia trip
From the The Bolton News, first published Monday 27th Aug 2007.
AN eco-friendly duo who competed in an epic road rally to Mongolia have spoken about their turbulent trip.
Mark Whitworth, of Chilham Street, Bolton, and his colleague Graeme Mullin, from The Wirral, have completed the four-week Mongol Rally.
They were among 200 teams taking part in the Europe to Asia charity fundraiser and made the journey in a Citroen 2CV, which was partially powered by solar panels.
It was a bumpy 10,000-mile drive to the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar - crossing seven mountain ranges and three deserts.
Mark, aged 25, said: "We were the 50th team to cross the finish line, but a lot of those had been towed over.
"It was touch and go at some points. Halfway through the trip, the car's chassis cracked because the roads in Kazakhstan were in such atrocious conditions.
"Hardly anyone spoke English, but we limped into a garage where we were lucky to find an American and a Russian who got a team of eight mechanics to work on it for five hours and get us back on the road."
Mark and Graeme, aged 25, are business development managers for Envirolink - an environmental firm based in Warrington.
The Green Team bought their 24-year-old car for £473 on eBay and added the solar panel.
The rally started at London's Hyde Park on July 21. During the trip, the team suffered a broken piston and headlights, stomach upsets and outside temperatures of up to 42C in a car with no air conditioning.
They are hoping to have raised more than £1,000 to be split between charities Mercy Corps, which supports rural communities in Mongolia, and the Cambridge Mongolian Disaster Appeal.
Mark said: "The bad roads were frustrating at times but we saw some awesome sights on the trip and the camaraderie was fantastic. Travelling in convoy was really fun when we got to decent stretches of road."
The pair donated the solar panel to a Mongolian school before leaving the country last Tuesday. The car was sent to a pound where it was to be auctioned off.
Archive Home
