Plymouth-Banjul Challenge
The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge or unofficially the Ultimate Banger Challenge and previously known as the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, is an annual car event for charity. It is not a race or a competition as its website states. It was first run in 2003 to Dakar and since 2005 to Banjul. It very roughly follows the route of the more famous Dakar Rally, visiting many of the same countries.
Participants starting in Europe normally must go to Tarifa in Southern Spain. Then the course runs through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and finally into the Gambia. The entrants must be driving a car worth approximately £100.
Participants in the challenge are on their own, meaning that no assistance is rendered to motorists in case of a car breakdown or even if they become stranded.
Mechanical reliability is the main obstacle to completing the course given that such vehicles are ordinary road cars and are mostly at the end of their useful lifetime...Read more
The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge or unofficially the Ultimate Banger Challenge and previously known as the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, is an annual car event for charity. It is not a race or a competition as its website states. It was first run in 2003 to Dakar and since 2005 to Banjul. It very roughly follows the route of the more famous Dakar Rally, visiting many of the same countries.
Participants starting in Europe normally must go to Tarifa in Southern Spain. Then the course runs through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and finally into the Gambia. The entrants must be driving a car worth approximately £100.
Participants in the challenge are on their own, meaning that no assistance is rendered to motorists in case of a car breakdown or even if they become stranded.
Mechanical reliability is the main obstacle to completing the course given that such vehicles are ordinary road cars and are mostly at the end of their useful lifetimes. Many cars cope very well until they have to go through the desert and then almost all suffer a great deal due to high temperatures and dust. Once the cars make it to Banjul in Gambia they are auctioned for, or donated to, charity.
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