When it comes to adventure sports, there's usually an entire routine of training, preparation, and practice before actually getting into the real-life version. Whether it's sky-diving, scuba-diving or white-water rafting, that's the usual sequence.
Sometimes, though, some people go straight for the experience rather than spending their time training. It started as an inside joke in 2001, when two gentlemen, Tom Morgan and Julian Esq, decided to put their dishevelled Fiat 126 to some use.
History unveiled
The conversation that began in the Czech Republic then led them to come up with the idea to drive the scrappy Fiat all the way to Mongolia. Although they didn’t quite reach Mongolia because of visa and border problems, they enjoyed themselves so much that they swore to try again. A determined Tom went around asking people if they would drive a Fiat to Mongolia.
Most of those he asked laughed him off, but things fell into place soon. In 2004, six cars, all with an engine capacity of one litre, lined up in the back room of a bar in Shoreditch in the East End of London, from which four teams made it to the finish point. From this premise, the great Mongol Rally was born. Soon, the word spread and 2005 saw 43 registrations.
By 2008, over 250 teams from all over the world rumbled across a third of the planet in tiny cars with absolutely no backup. And between all this, the Institute of Adventure Research, which later would be known as The Adventurists, was founded.
The rallies
Indian roads and driving on them can be a harrowing experience, but the Adventurists found another fascination in the subcontinent: the humble auto rickshaw. They narrowed down on another similar adventure ride, calling it the “Rickshaw Run”, a 3,500 km pan-Indian drive in a colourfully painted three-wheeler.
In true spirit, the Adventurists figured that this was the perfect and the greatest invention to rally around India. After striking success with these two experiments (the Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run), the team expanded over the years to include widescale, unique adventures such as the Ice Run, Icarus Trophy, Mongol Derby, Ngalawa Cup, Adventure #10 and focused all of them towards fundraising.
Fundraising is an important motto for the organisers who stress on “saving the world” through their charitable work. While the standard £1,000 that is raised by independent teams gets donated to the Adventurists’ official charity partner Cool Earth, the rest of the money, if any, gets directed to charities as per the participants’ choice.
The Mongol Rally 2016
The limelight currently is focused on the oldest and the biggest of their rallies – the Mongol Rally, which flags off on July 16 in London with more than 250 teams participating this year. After crossing Ulaanbatar in Mongolia, it ends on September 12 in Ulan Ude. Claimed to be one of the greatest motoring adventures on earth, this rally calls for driving 10,000 miles (18,000 km) across mountains, deserts and through unimaginable roads of Europe and Asia. The rules? Only three:
1. You can only take a farcically small vehicle (less than 1000 cc or an engine size with a capacity of up to one litre)
2. You are completely on your own
3. You have to raise £1000 (minimum) for charity
Adding on to these three rules, motorcycles are allowed for the journey, but their engine capacities cannot go over 125 cc. Rally legend Wayne Barrett made it through the deserts in a geared Honda Club and a Monkey bike, alive. But the key to rallying to Mongolia is to have your car stand out and shout loud.
There have been vehicles in past rallies carrying telephone booths, bath tubs and a rooftop Yak, apart from fancy paintings and hoardings, just for fun. That’s just the car. To even get the car and a team to the United Kingdom requires a registration fee, other fees, insurance costs, insurance for the car, an International Driving License, a vehicle registration document, tax papers and, finally, visas (for you and the car) of the 10-13 countries you would be crossing. Imagine what the car with a Yak on its roof may have gone through on every border checkpost!
The rally last year saw 245 teams start on July 16, 2015, and it had some of the strangest unbeaten records – the first team to ever end up in Africa, the largest fine paid ($5,000) to import a car in Mongolia, two father-daughter teams, nine motorbikes and five tattoos embodied en route the finish line.
The Indians in focus
One of the earliest participants of the Mongol Rally back in 2012 was a team by the name "Genghis Khan’s East India Company". The team of five, which couldn’t get to the start point in 2011, managed to finish the rally the following year in a Nissan Micra. The year 2013 saw another Indian team called “Road Runners and Roadies” take the road.
But while all the teams had to purchase a car in the United Kingdom, the team this year called NanoMADs would be doing the exact opposite. Binoy John, Bhairav Kuttaiah and Sunaina Pamudurthy would be the first all-India based trio with a girl on the team driving to the Mongol Rally in an all Indian car, the Tata Nano.
Already in Southampton, the rally car is a carefully designed white and red Nano with “Mongol Rally”, “NanoMADs” and “Make A Difference/Rally for change” crafted on the body. Fabricated steel protection plates or sump guards have been installed on the engine and fuel tanks of the car to protect it from damage through the rough terrains.
This car is also set up with a Global Positioning System tracker and a 300-litre roof box to carry travel essentials. Additionally, the team also plans to carry a 22-litre jerry can for fuel to survive the last patch through Mongolia as gas stations are separated by long distances.
“Raising a thousand pounds is basic. We wanted to do more and that was by tying up with a cause and setting a higher goal,” said Pamudurthy. The team has tied up with Make A Difference, a non-governmental organisation, as their official charity partner in India and have set themselves a record-breaking goal: to raise a million dollars for the cause of shelter home children in India.
They’ve also decided on the following places as pit-stops as they make their way on this journey: Le Mans, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Barcelona, Marseille, Nice, Grenoble , Geneva, Turin, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Bologna, Venice, Salzburg, Prague, Krakow, Warsaw, Moscow, Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Ulan Bator.
Once the rally ends in September, the team aspires to continue raising funds and plans on mentoring other road trippers and rallyists.
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