Driving force for Panda challenge (From This is Hampshire)
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Driving force for Panda challenge
9:00am Friday 8th February 2013 in News By Chris Gregory
Philip Young, left, and Paul Brace near Lusaka, Zambia
A CAR dealership in Old Basing is providing technical support for a madcap driving challenge – Cape Town to London in a Fiat Panda.
Staff at Fiat dealer Alan Gibson are providing 24-hour support via the phone to adventurers Philip Young and Paul Brace, who are aiming to drive across 13 countries in the space of 10 days.
The duo, from Kent and East Sussex respectively, set off in their modified Fiat Panda from Cape Town, South Africa last Friday.
They want to break the world record of just over 11 days for the 10,000-mile distance, which was set two years ago using a Land Rover.
The team at Alan Gibson, helped the pair out last month when they needed a Fiat Panda for a TV interview. The duo’s car was already on its way to South Africa in a shipping container.
As well as providing technical support, the garage has donated £500 to Farm Africa – the adventurers’ chosen charity.
Ian Ainge, general sales manager at Alan Gibson, said he is receiving daily text updates from the driving duo.
He said: “We thought it was a very ambitious challenge to take on, but if they can do it, it would be phenomenal. It would be a testament to the car as well. We thought we would support it all the way.”
As well as facing poor roads and border crossing, the duo will drive through countries where there has been recent unrest, such as Egypt and Libya. In Tanzania, they travelled with an armed guard.
For more information on the drive, visit africarecordrun.com.
