On the 30th anniversary of Brigadier John Hemsley’s record run from Cape Town to London, British duo Philip Young and Paul Brace set out from the iconic Lord Charles Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, with a plan to drive unassisted and non-stop through 13 countries (and covering 16 000 km) with the aim of not only setting a new record time, but also raising much-needed money for Farm Africa.
Their vehicle of choice, a 875 cc Fiat Panda Twin-Air, purchased off the floor from a dealership in London, was modified only to ensure maximum protection from the elements. This included a raised body height and substantial reinforcements to the suspension and undercarriage. An additional 34-litre fuel tank was fitted in the spare wheel housing, with extra space being found for two spare wheels within the cabin.
In order to achieve their goal, it was calculated that the pair would need to cover at least 1 000 miles (1 600 km) per day over some of the most rugged and hostile terrain in the world. Driving in three-hour shifts while the other slept on the modified passenger seat, Young and Brace aimed to maintain an average speed of 70 km/h over the duration of their trip. That said, the Panda was also fitted with a tracking device to ensure that no speed limit was ignored on the way.
When the team crossed under London’s Marble Arch on 11 February, it had not only set a new record for driving non-stop from Cape Town to London (10 days, 13 hours and 30 minutes), but also rewrote the record for travelling “in either direction” between these two cities.
The team raised more than R140 000 for Farm Africa, which helps African farmers increase their harvest in a bid to tackle food shortages.
Of his latest adventure, 55-year old Young exclaimed, “The thought of reaching Marble Arch has kept us going rather than falling asleep from exhaustion. The best part of the whole trip is getting to London and knowing we have succeeded in our ambition and that nine months of planning has worked. The trip has been a real eye-opener. It has been one hell of an experience – tough and, at times, extremely gruelling. We have been effectively living in the car. Pretty much the only times we got out were for fuel stops and borders. But we have got no regrets about the Panda as a choice of car. It is one of the smallest cars you could possibly buy on the British market but it has been perfect, nippy and powerful enough to do the job of crossing two continents.”
“On Sunday night, we had a big diversion up the right side of Italy because of snow. We have had just about every extreme along the way you could imagine. But we have had a terrific amount of attention wherever we have gone with locals travelling halfway across their country to cheer us on.”
