Paul Brace (of Eagle E-Types) and Philip Young (a serial long distance classic rally competitor) are going to attempt to drive from Cape Town to London in record-breaking time. The current record for a trip stands at 11 days and 14 hours and was set by three men using a Land Rover Discovery. However, Brace and Young are confident that they can beat this time despite the only being two of them and a small, 875cc, front-wheel drive Panda, which they chose after reading evo’s twin test against a VW Up in issue 171.
The trip is being undertaken in aid of the charity Farm Africa and all things being equal they will set off from Cape Town on February 1st (the car is currently somewhere in the south Atlantic on its way to Cape Town). You can find out more about the adventure and sponsor them on www.africarecordrun.com and you can follow the valiant duo’s progress here on evo.co.uk...
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February 4 - day 4
Fantastic border crossing into Kenya, met up with friends and had breakfast after crossing the Equator. Hit Nairobi in the morning rush hour and managed to get wedged for a while between a truck and a pickup... literally. Luckily there was hardly any damage. Then on to Marsabit. The road here was the worst we've ever encountered, with huge craters made worse by recent heavy rain fall. It meant driving really slowly in first gear trying to dodge rocks and washaways. We stopped in Marsabit to check the Panda over, the sump guard was hitting the engine and needed straightening. Knowing we had to continue at this pace for the next 300km through the night to get to the border as soon as it opened, we decided to take along a mechanic and an armed guard.
