Ex soldiers take up rally challenge
Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:52 pm
The Race2Recovery team of disabled ex-soldiers has arrived in South America to take on the world's toughest motoring challenge.
This is the second time the team - which this year includes injured servicemen and civilians - has taken on the course after becoming the first all-disabled team ever to complete the feat in 2013.
The course which stretches 5,600 miles across Argentina and Chile will see the group taking on temperatures of up to 40C while travelling across the Atacama Desert. In a bid to claim victory, the team will naturally be hoping to avoid any breakdowns in their Land Rover Defender-based Wildcat rally-raid vehicle, which stood up so well to the test last year.
Retired Captain Tony Harris, team founder and driver, said: "We're delighted to be back in South America for our second Dakar challenge.
"The memory of finishing last year's race is something we'll always treasure but we always wanted the Race2Recovery team to become a sustainable rally team so it's fantastic to be entering our second Dakar.
"We learnt a lot from last year's competition so we feel extremely well prepared for the challenges that this race will inevitably throw at us."
The team is hoping to raise money for a number of charities including Help for Heroes. The Race2Recovery initiative also works to help injured servicemen through their rehabilitation.
This is the second time the team - which this year includes injured servicemen and civilians - has taken on the course after becoming the first all-disabled team ever to complete the feat in 2013.
The course which stretches 5,600 miles across Argentina and Chile will see the group taking on temperatures of up to 40C while travelling across the Atacama Desert. In a bid to claim victory, the team will naturally be hoping to avoid any breakdowns in their Land Rover Defender-based Wildcat rally-raid vehicle, which stood up so well to the test last year.
Retired Captain Tony Harris, team founder and driver, said: "We're delighted to be back in South America for our second Dakar challenge.
"The memory of finishing last year's race is something we'll always treasure but we always wanted the Race2Recovery team to become a sustainable rally team so it's fantastic to be entering our second Dakar.
"We learnt a lot from last year's competition so we feel extremely well prepared for the challenges that this race will inevitably throw at us."
The team is hoping to raise money for a number of charities including Help for Heroes. The Race2Recovery initiative also works to help injured servicemen through their rehabilitation.