THE PLYMOUTH TO BANJUL MOTOR RALLY 2005
"It is not a race"
However, we came 4th arriving at The Safari Garden Hotel at 08:20 on the 5th of January; and our group of six cars came 1st overall with positions 1st (Saab), 4th (Renault 4), 5th (Subaru), 6th (Chevy Blazer), 7th (Mercedes), 8th (Citroen van).
4,268 miles of eventful but trouble free motoring. The Renault 4 GTL driven by Ben & Richard Llewellyn raised the equivalent of £1,600.00 (78,500.00 Delacis) and was one of three cars purchased by the local church. These three vehicles have already been paid for, dedicated drivers provided and assigned to transporting nurses and teachers to the smaller villages. "Practical support in action".
The first auction raised over £30,000.00 and was for only 27 cars out of the 200 in that years Rally.
Each car has a team of two. This is to keep weight down and give scope for recovery of other team members along the way if necessary.
Richard Llewellyn and his second son Benjamin drove a 1986 Renault 4 in the first despatch leaving the U.K. on the 17th of December under the team name of "Charlie Brown" (the car looks like Snoopy and is named "Spike" after his uncle who lived in the desert).
Benchmark and Ben's Tree Surgery business sponsored the team and they arrived in Banjul on the 5th of January 2005 at 08:25.
Ben and Spike (Desert cousin relative of Snoopy)
A father and son adventure over Christmas and New Year. (The penance that will be served with family will extend for years!)
The Plymouth to Banjul Challenge involves some one hundred and fifty left hand drive cars in three despatch groups being driven to Banjul in Gambia to be auctioned for local charities there.
http://www.plymouth-dakar.co.uk
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ga.html#Econ
