Motril

After 7 hours driving from Madrid we have arrived at Motril. But before that we passed the verifications and with close to 300 cars we did a round on the Jarama circuit. The weather was again very bad. The car did a great job, but in the middle of heavy rain we lost the screen whiper making it difficult to continue but with some tape we fixed it somehow.
For some strange reason I can not upload pictures unfortunately

Day 1

Early start this morning direction Madrid. Close to 700 km where the weather conditions were not great: cold, heavy rain and extremely windy. With many stops and some cars with minor problems but nothing that stops the good mood and atmosphere. Now some good dinner and prepare ourselves for tomorrow.

D- day has arrived

And yes, after so many days, weeks and months D-day has arrived. Tomorrow at 7AM the adventure is starting direction to Madrid where the official start will take place on Friday at 4 PM. Close to 350 Fiat Panda / Seat Marbella direction to Motril.

Today some friends have come to say goodbye. It was a wonderful moment and very much aprreciated taking in consideration the current weather conditions (today we had snow in Barcelona).

Stay tuned!

Only 8 days and we go!!!

Today we are happy to show you the final pictures of the car. Everything is last minute which makes it more challenging but at the same time more fun.

Theoretically we should not have anymore surprises after all the mechanical changes we have done.

I would also like to thanks our Sponsors / Friends for making it more "PRO":

- Fundació Hospital de Nens de Barcelona

- Psy@Work

- Pivote Marketing

- Gau Catering

- The Valley Digital Business School

- Sublime Oils

- Pronto Rotulo

Only 18 days before the start! Final daily parcours are known

During the last weeks many things have happened in the preparation:

1. Design of car finished

2. Several sponsors are supporting us

3. All little details for making the trip easier are bought and ready to be packed

4. Several test trips have been made in order to get familiar with car in different environments

BUT, 2 weeks ago we broke the engine of the car... The good news is that tomorrow, hopefully, we will get our car back with a brand new engine!!

So, what exactly is the detailed route we will do per day?

DAY 1 (March 2^nd 2018)

Madrid – Motril – Nador – Mohammed V Lake

DAY 2

Mohammed V Lake – Bni Tadjite

DAY 3

Bni Tadjite – Errachidia

DAY 4

Errachidia – Merzouga

DAY 5

Merzouga – Tafraoute Sidi Ali

DAY 6

Tafraoute Sidi Ali – Tansikht

DAY 7

Tansikht – Marrakech

For more details clik on the following link: Details of the daily trips

Next week we will be able to share final pictures of the car!!!!!!

Well, the previous post was not the last one of 2017.
As some of you have asked more information about the Panda Raid I have compiled some nice pictures and videos of previous years. Hope you like them and you get enough excited to also join next year!

Happy 2018!!

Click on the link to see the videos:
Summary
How hard it can be

Last day of 2017 and 60 days before the start

Today we have officially created vdE Racing Team. 

When I say we, it's the super team composed by Robert, my brother, and myself! Logo is WIP and will be shared soon.

The car has been heavily tested during 650 kms in the last 2 weeks in different environments like highway, gravel and sand. So far everything looks great, but some surprise are always part of the game. Last week suddenly the car did not start and after a quick investigation the outcome was that the start engine decide to leave us. Also after some heavy off-road test in the Gava area the engine started to leak some oil. At this stage not clear what it is but next week the car will go back to the garage to finalize some fine tuning (mainly electricity) and check the oil issue.

The next big project is the external layout of the car. Designer and materials are identified, so everything should be ready by the end of January.

Regarding sponsorship, we are definitely running behind schedule, so if you or somebody you know is interested to sponsor us he/she is welcome. Logo's will be placed on the car. Any small or big contribution is welcome.