Two police officers are making good use of Stanfords maps and atlases on one of the most infamous car races in the world – the Mongol Rally. Jonathan Stevens and Ben Farquett, both 29, came to our store to plan their intrepid journey with the help of our famed maps and atlases, and we quizzed them further on their plans...
The Mongol Rally raises money for Mercy Corps, among other charities, and requires competing vehicles to have an engine of less than 1,000cc. Entrants are left to go it alone, with no support team provided nor other arrangements made, such as for accommodation. This year’s rally starts from London's Hyde Park on the 19th July, ending approximately 10,000 miles and some time later in Mongolia's capital, Ulan Bator.
Jon and Ben, both from Sussex, were working in the same police team when they decided to sign up to the Rally. Ben said, “It started with work team challenges – things like storming the beaches of Normandy in kiddie boats and night-time orienteering that gave us the reputation at work as being a bit into ‘specialist interest’ – that’s probably the best way of putting it. And as a result, one of the lads at the work saw an article on the Mongol Rally and thought we might be interested. All we knew was it was a charity rally, and Jon said to me, ‘Are you up for it?’ and I said, ‘Yeh, sign me up!’”.
The two men have taken their challenge that step further by deciding to take a 1980 Austin Mini, 850cc, on their intended route, which takes them through France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and finally Mongolia. Ben laughed, “We decided to take a Mini because it’s that kind of Dunkirk spirit, and secondly purely for comedy value, squeezing it all in – it’s the smallest car you can think of really!”
So, are they nervous? Ben admits, “I was really, really confident until we managed to get lost between Charing Cross Station and here, so I think we’re going to struggle!” But they both agreed they can’t wait. Ben explained, “The thing is, with an adventure like this, if everything goes to plan, we’ll probably be quite upset because it’s the stuff that goes wrong that really makes the adventure.” Jon added, “It’s literally just us and the car. If the car breaks down, we have to fix it.”
Jon said there are some preparations still to do: “The car is currently sat in a field in Oxford – it’s been there for the past six years – so we’ve got to pick it up soon on a trailer, bring it back and hopefully get it serviced and ready to go. So there’s tons of work still to do for the car.”
Jon and Ben are keeping costs to a minimum to raise as much money for the charity as they can, and have opted to camp during the trip, which is expected to take three weeks.
Finally, Ben said, “Stanfords was one of the first companies we approached mainly because there‘s not a lot of places you can research Mongolia. Also, we had both read The Long Way Round with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman and we read in the back that Stanfords had sponsored them, so we thought what a brilliant place to start. And Stanfords was one of the first companies to get back to us so we were really happy and really appreciate their help and support.”
For further information on the feat, visit Ben and Jon’s Mongol Rally website, and on the cause, visit the Mercy Corps website.
Author: Rachel Ricks
Date: 5 February 2008