Bachelor’s students Timo Tӧns and Thijs de Vries, along with master’s student Pieter Lenselink are getting ready for the adventure of a lifetime. As team Thunderbolt Grand Prix Racing, they will do the Mongol Rally, hoping to have fun and raise money in the process.
From left to right: Timo, Thijs and Pieter.
Thijs: “I was traveling in Romania last year and we were going down a very famous highway, the Transfagarasan, where I saw a couple of old cars decked out in lots of stickers. I asked one of the drivers what was going on and they were part of the Mongol Rally, a kind of fundraising event. They explained a little about the concept, I looked it up and I asked Pieter and Timo if they wanted to join me and they agreed.”
Pieter: “The organisation that runs it is called The Adventurists and they are raising money for the Cool Earth fund. The Cool Earth has an emphasis on empowering the local people of rural areas to maintain the rainforest and they have been quite effective in doing so. We think it’s a good initiative. The minimum donation you should raise is 1,000 pounds, but we’re hoping to raise as much as possible.”
Timo: “We depart from Prague on July 14th and we have about five weeks. There are different routes you can take and we are opting for the southern route. It’s through Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. We will finish in Russia.”
Thijs: “It’s supposed to be a ‘shit’ car and the size of the engine can be a maximum of 1.2 liters. The cars with this engine type are usually small and old, but it’s part of the adventure. It could all go perfectly and be pretty boring or our car might break down during the race. We don’t really have experience with fixing cars but we’ll try to get to know the car beforehand. We bought a Suzuki which is older and pretty simple mechanically, not like newer cars.”
Pieter: “We will camp every day, just set up a tent where we are. We hope to be able to sleep without a tent sometimes, just sleeping under the stars. We’re also keeping track of foreign ministry recommendations on what countries or places we shouldn’t pass through. There may be some places that are dangerous.”
Timo: “There are something like 400 teams going, so of course you might meet other teams and you can ride in a convoy. We will try to communicate with other groups along the way. Turkmenistan is very hard to get a visa for and they only give you five days. I think the biggest concern for me is making sure we get out because I wouldn’t like to be in a jail there.”
Heather Montague / Freelance writer
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