About the Challenge
The Plymouth-Dakar Challenge was started in the winter of 2003. This year is the third year and also the largest group of cars going.
It was started by Julian Nowill – a stockbroker from Devon England. Unofficially spoken of as ‘The Ultimate Banger Challenge’, it’s a motley collection of cars costing less than £100 will be assembled to drive over 3,800 miles from the South coast of Great Britain to the West coast of Africa.
The “rules” are quite simple:
- Competing cars must cost less than £100
- Maximum budget for the vehicle Rally Preparation: £15
- Once the Rally is underway, there will be no form of formal assistance from the organizers in any way – Teams are ON THEIR OWN.
- All of vehicles that make the full distance to Banjul must be handed over to the Challenge Control Group to be auctioned under controlled conditions (reported to The Gambian Government) in aid of local Gambian Charities
- All vehicles must be LEFT-HAND DRIVE!!
But as they say on the Challenge website:
“Rules are made to be broken …” – Julian Nowill
“(Except Rules 4 and 5)”
We’ve spent a little more for our ice cream van than £100, and we’ve spent a little more than £15 for preparation – and our ICV is actually right hand drive (but we got approval from the organizer to take it and it’s considered a “character” vehicle) – but one rule we won’t break is the charity side of things – we’ll be donating the vehicle, all our tools, and the bulk of everything else we take down there (freezer, camping gear, etc.) to charity.
Countries we’re heading through :
England – France – Spain
Morroco – more info
Western Sahara – more info
Mauritania – more info
Senegal – more info
The Gambia – more info
Typical Route
| Day | Description | Miles | Total |
| Day 1 | Depart UK | ||
| Day 2 | 9AM arrive St Malo and drive to border with Spain | 600 | 600 |
| Day 3 | Drive through Spain to Gibraltar | 600 | 1200 |
| Day 4 | Rest / Catch-up / Repairs day in Sotogrande/Gibraltar | 0 | 1200 |
| Day 5 | Ferry to Morroco. Drive to Rabat. | 173 | 1373 |
| Day 6 | Drive to Marrakech. – PARTY TIME!!! | 205 | 1578 |
| Day 7 | Rest/Recovery day | 0 | 1578 |
| Day 8 | Drive to Agadir | 172 | 1750 |
| Day 9 | Drive to Laâyoune | 433 | 2183 |
| Day 10 | Drive to Dakhla | 338 | 2521 |
| Day 11 | Drive to Nouâdhibou | 288 | 2809 |
| Day 12 | Rest / Repairs / catch-up / Party | 0 | 2809 |
| Day 13 | Into the desert. Overnight camping (probably near a dune). | 110 | 2919 |
| Day 14 | Continue through the desert, out of the National Park of Nouâmghar and part way down the beach. | 120 | 3039 |
| Day 15 | Continue down the coast to Nouakchott | 93 | 3132 |
| Day 16 | Drive to Zebrabar Campsite, near St. Louis | 189 | 3321 |
| Day 17 | Rest Day / Party Night | 0 | 3321 |
| Day 18 | Rest and Recovery Day | 0 | 3321 |
| Day 19 | Customs escort straight through Senegal | 338 | 3659 |
| Day 20 | Drive to the Gambia | 40 | 3699 |
| Day 21 | Chill out and Party at the Safari Garden Hotel. Surviving cars will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to Gambian Charities | 3699 | |
| Day 22 | Flying home from Banjul | ||
|
Total Miles |
3699 |
© Copyright 2004, 2005 Dan Clemens All rights reserved.