Two daring design students will test their creative problem solving to the max when they drive to the Mongolian desert for charity.
But in their battered 1.2 litre 2008 Honda Jazz, the 10,000-mile journey looks likely to be more Wacky Races than Top Gear.
They’ll have no back-up, no set route and no guarantee of making it to the finish - Ed Miles and Harry Cozens will be left completely to their own devices in the Mongol Rally.
And the 22-year-olds who’ll be fund-raising for Action Against Hunger and rainforest charity Cool Earth had the bright idea while studying industrial design at Brunel University London.
The pair, who head into their final year in September after completing a work placement, have been full steam ahead ever since.
“I have wanted to do the Mongol Rally for a few years and this summer is the first and probably last opportunity where time, money and a lack of responsibility converged,” said Ed from Norfolk.
“I asked Harry to do it with me and after he couldn't come up with a good reason why not, the plan was in motion.”
While both say their parents worriedly back the idea, Ed admits: “it took a while to persuade Mum that I (probably) wasn't going to die.”
Their design course may stand them in good stead, says Harry, from Kent. “It has probably given us a bit of hands-on experience of tinkering with mechanisms and also the freedom of thought to pursue such wacky kind of ideas.”
The friends set off on Friday (July 19) and reckon the journey will take about two months.
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Reported by:
Hayley Jarvis,
Media Relations
+44 (0)1895 268176
hayley.jarvis@brunel.ac.uk