Team Haggis Hunters enter The Mongol Rally Challenge

Season Workers is proud to be one of the organisations sponsoring Team Haggis Hunters in their attempt to complete the 2008 Mongol Rally Challenge, in a 1993 VW Polo. In 2006 167 cars set off from London and 117 made it to the finish at Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

The mother of all adventures, the Mongol Rally is an 10,000-mile dash across ¼ of the earth's surface in cars that most people consider underpowered for doing the shopping. There are no support vehicles, no carefully marked course, no professional drivers, no fast cars, or even good cars. It's just the team, a 1000cc car and thousands of miles of adventure. Not only is this the world's most extreme car challenge, the Mongol rally is a charity event that raises money for a bundle of awesome charities. The teams main charity, Mercy Corps provides developing communities with sustainable means of support, by equipping them with high-yield livestock to allow them to support their families and communities.

If they do make it all the way to Mongolia, they will donate the car to another charity, ‘Hopes and Homes for Children’.

You can follow Richie and the teams' progress across some of the worlds most difficult terrain (made slightly more difficult when in a one litre car) right here on this page or by signing up to any of the Season Workers newsletters.

It all kicks off on July 19th 2008, when around 200 teams will depart from Hyde Park to begin their own route to Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

Live updates

LATEST! 24/07/08 - Drove 300 miles to Kiev with the exhaust strapped to the roof

22/07/08 - At Ukraine border. Probably be here for a few hours as the cue of cars goes back a few kms. The exhaust fell off today but was easily mended. Kiev in 2 days.

20/07/08 - Finally after months of preparation we set off yesterday from Hyde Park. First stop was Amsterdam and we made it there about 11 with enough time for a few beers. We are now heading for Leipzig in Germany and we are making good time even though every car is travelling 50 mph faster than us.

In previous rallies

• 2 teams were robbed at knife point.
• 1 car snapped in half.
• 3 engines fell completely out of the cars.
• 1 team was held for 5 days in no-mans land.
• 1 team cycled 200km to get to the finish when their car gave in.
• 100's of tyres were blown.
• 1 team got engaged.
• 1 team found a 10ft deep pot hole.
• 1 team found a 25 tonne crane rolled by a pot hole.
• 3 teams attended weddings
• 1 team had to reverse up a mountain after losing all bar one forward gear
• 1 person spent 24 hours in a Kazakh jail charged with 5 crimes against the state.
• 1 person was stoned by a Mongolian nomad (who he then shot at with a gun).
• 1 team was rammed off the road after an argument over water melons.
• 1 person spent a day in a Turkish hospital.
• 3 people were banned from Turkmenistan for a year.
• As a result of an incident with a cow 1 person was detained by police in Azerbaijan and threatened with a beating from a dwarf.
• 2 cars flipped over in Mongolia.
• 3 teams were chased by armed bandits.
• 0 teams died

The Rules

• Each vehicles engine size must not exceed 1000cc.
• Exceptions are made for cars with comedy value.
• Teams will not be allowed outside support.
• No satellite navigation systems.
• Each vehicle must raise at least £1000 for the Mongol Rally charities.

The Route

The way you get there is open to interpretation, basically London to Mongolia via anywhere! After whizzing through Europe on their nice fast tarmac roads we will hit Poland, Ukraine, a little bit of the mafia controlled Russia, before entering Borats home territory of Kazakhstan. Then back into Russia before crossing into Mongolia via its Western borders around 3 weeks after leaving London. The team have chosen the most direct route they can so they can back to work before they are fired!

The Team

Three friends have signed up for this crazy adventure, Mark Wilson, Michael Duffield and Richie Devaney. Nobody has any experience of mechanics but we do have a Haynes manual! Nobody can speak a 2nd language but Richie says he is very good at understanding hand signals and gestures. So we will solely rely on luck and little bit of guile to see us make it all the way to Mongolia in our trusty steed and raise as much money for good causes along the way!

The Charities

We must not forget that this is all in aid of some great Charities such as Mercy Corps and Hopes and Homes for Children.

Hope and Homes for Children (HHC) gives hope to the poorest children in the world – those who are orphaned, abandoned or vulnerable – by enabling them to grow up within the love of a family and the security of a home, so that they can fulfil their potential.

Mercy Corps Mongolia supports rural communities to meet their economic and social needs, helping individuals, families and communities to become more self-sufficient, diversified in their production, and better linked to local, regional and national markets.