The Mongol Rally 2015 - The Filter Blog

The What?! The Mongol Rally 2015 is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure expedition that thunders 16,000 Kilometers across the mountains, desert and steppe of Europe and Asia each summer...and this year we've signed up!! There's no backup, no support, no GPS and no set route; just us and a tiny car that is totally inappropriate for the journey, all in the name of charity! In a last minute deal we got online car parts experts MicksGarage on-board as sponsors.

Team My Left Tyre At MicksGarage HQ in Dublin We are preparing to be part of a handful of representatives from Europe in a tremendous journey that will test our physical endurance, morale, perseverance, and our survival instincts. For better or for worse, we have thrown ourselves headlong into the 2015 Mongol Rally. here's a video from a few years ago to give you an idea of what it's all about: We are team My Left Tyre.

We will embark on this life-changing journey from Tipperary, Ireland on July 18th and finish about 6-8 weeks later and over a third of the way around the globe, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. To make it interesting, our vehicle must be powered by no more than a 1.0 litre engine and must travel with no support vehicle. When we reach the finish line, our team will donate a minimum of €1,300, we are already well past this figure in donations so far. The Rally will take us across 16,000 kilometers of some of the world’s most perilous geographical and political landscapes in a glorified shopping cart producing a meager 13 horsepower per person! We will travel through nearly twenty countries, cross three deserts, and traverse five mountain ranges, all with no premeditated route, minimal planning, and even less common sense.

Who We Are The four of us became acquainted in Austria, while Sean and Leo became acquainted while working for Motorsport companies in England and Austria. The team are as follows:

Seán Maher (Tipperary, Ireland) – instigator of the rally (hey guys I have a really mad idea…..). Supporting Irish Autism Action.

Sandra Rettenegger (St. Veit, Austria) – adds a female touch to the team, manages the website & social media requirements for the trip. Supporting Salzburg Children’s Charity Aid.

Leo Rainer (St. Veit, Austria) - The skilled mechanic and globetrotter will ensure that the team won’t get stuck for long during the adventure. Supporting Salzburg Children’s Charity Aid.

Johann Pirnbacher (St. Veit, Austria) - His logical reasoning and technical skills make him a perfect problem solver. Supporting Salzburg Children’s Charity Aid. Why Are We Doing This? Our primary goal in this venture is to raise money for our chosen charities whilst getting a unique opportunity to see parts of the world relatively unseen by tourists. We'll still be trying to raise funds throughout the trip and if you'd like to support us via our MyCharity page it would be hugely appreciated! http://www.mycharity.ie/event/my_left_tyre/ What Do We Expect? Although it would be nice to think that we'll just get in the car drive with no major problems, see stunning parts of the world and not run into trouble. The harsh reality is the trip will be far from trouble free! It all began 6 months ago when we decided to do this venture, The visa process for some of the countries we enter requires a lot of paper work and took quite some time to accomplish (we only today received all our Visas one week before we leave).

Meet Barbara (Our 1988 Toyota Starlet)

Barbara We all agreed that we wanted an old car , no bells, no whistles, a simple 'fix it with a hammer' type of car. We were lucky to stumble upon our red beauty at a bargain price and snapped it up. Again there is a big paper work process called the Carnet De Passage which is basically a passport for your car, which we have yet to receive (fingers crossed) . Then the car must be prepared, We made our own roof rack, fitted a sump guard and changed some of the more worn components on the car. We're bringing a healthy supply of spares with us thanks to MicksGarage who came on board and supplied everything we thought we might need during the trip.

On the trip . We are all agreed we are going to get lost, get punctures, break down, be held up at borders, hassled by police, hit temperatures as high as 45 degrees to as little as minus 10! Nobody said it would be easy and that's what it is all about for us. Another thing we are all agreed on, that even though it will get tough we will surly have a lot of fun, see some stunning places, meet some interesting people and above all raise some much needed funds for charity. "If nothing goes wrong, everything has gone wrong!"

The Sponsors Without our sponsors this trip would not be possible and our sincere gratitude goes out to them. MicksGarage Excel Technical Consulting TC Tyres Twister Film Production Taxi Rainer Electronic Schilchegger Our car will be traveling from Tipperary across more than a third of the globe, conspicuously spreading joy to cities, towns, and open road across Europe and Asia, documenting by means of photos, videos, and mid-rally updates. Why not like our Facebook page and follow our journey. Donate To donate to Irish Autism Action please follow this link http://www.mycharity.ie/event/my_left_tyre/ To donate to Salzburg Children's Care follow this link https://goo.gl/5chHjS Contact & Follow Email mylefttyre@gmail.com Team Website www.myleftyre.org/en Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mylefttyre