Great stuff, look forward to the pics/vids
Just noticed you live in Gloucestershire.. So must be pretty near my new house - this does not bode well for me resisting buying a panda lol
OK sorry for the delay, been a little poorly
...anyway I have just the cure for dealing with the temptation of buying a panda...
mucho panda porno!...
In fact so much panda porn I had to create a folder for it :devil:...
Panda Raid 2014
So car packed and ready to go!...
We met up with another pandaraid team in Gijon and drove in covoy for a bit to Madrid:
Arrived safely in Madrid and fitted the new set of tyres to the front keeping the old worn ones as spares:
Lots of mk1's out there!! All SEAT of course
...
But we were not only the first UK panda but I think the only mk1 4x4 as well (at least I am fairly sure, didn't see another one).
The support truck was incredible, with even spare engines and gearboxes!!
All getting ready to set off, lots of tourists asking why the hell there are so many pandas parked outside the Palace haha! Few british tourists asking us questions as they couldn't speak spanish...
We set off from madrid and stopped off for a quick pit stop and the spanish version of B&Q to modify the bonnet a little (we checked weather forcasts and it was looking like 29°C in morocco!)...this actually helped quite a lot to let heat out:
And looks cool too :devil:...
We arrived in Algeceras at 1:30am (I think we took the wrong route really) so quickly off to sleep in the hotel and meeting at the ferry port 1minute down the road early next morning we saw our first glimpse at all the pandas entering morocco! (there were more here as some cars did their registration in Algeceras rather than Madrid)...
And one Ferry almost entirely filled with pandas!!...
These chaps were having fun and were a team of I think 4 or 5 cars "Superpanda" :slayer:
Some cars looked very well prepared but I think Alloys are a little risky for the desert / rocks
Look fantastic though :devil:
This became a fairly common sight along the route...
It's an ideal world where everyone drives Pandas! haha!!:slayer:
So anyway a little bit of a drive and we start the first off road stage.
Here is a photo of the car and my friend Marc after we completed the first time control section...
The first night in Morocco they put us all up in a holiday village and we had our own apartment! It is literally a town filled entirely with Pandas!!...
We entered some mountains the following day and caught our first glimpse of African Snow! We see much more later but still, I think that song about this phenomenon is telling porkies!
Another stage starting and Pandas queuing to begin another time trial:
Some incredible sights to be seen. What looked like a ruined city in the middle of the mountains. There were no roofs but could still be used for farming perhaps:
We followed a river for a bit and went through an old mining town:
Back to the open road...ACTION SHOT!
The famous stone tunnel...had to get a photo going through it
Our first and only flat tyre of the whole event!...
We fitted a spare then got the old one repaired back at camp. I am definitely making me one of these tools!!!...
LOL we were literally in the middle of nowhere but I guess a popular hiking spot
:
Pandas racing across the desert...what a sight...
Absolutely incredible sand dunes in the background. Tempting to go much closer just to climb it but not a great place to be stuck!
Sorry I took so many pictures of my car lol...
Our new found friends (we lent them some fuel as they had run out
) were doing some quick repairs before setting off on the end of day timed stage:
This bit was mad, there was no track. Just a general direction to drive and Pandas zig zagging all over the place haha!! Epic!...
Occasionally you come across a truck out here as well! It really is a main road out there haha!
Then we crossed onto a dried lake bed which was really rough ground and the dust storms that blew up were crazy. From perfect visibility to zero in a few seconds!...
Next campsite and we arrive with daylight this time so grabbed some pictures. The ground was a bit too soft here so the tent wouldn't have survived much of a wind (hence anchoring to the car!)...
And so the new day begins with a cheesy grin!...
We erm did get a little stuck but it does help if you remember to put it in 4wd! haha!!
Never mind, we got going again with a little tow and a little shame
And then got stuck again by picking a slightly ambitious crossing of this "river" almost made it across though
Looking at this you can see why locals still build out of it...mud and gravel...it is basically concrete and dries super quick in these dry conditions!!...
Suprisingly some 2wd cars went over it with little trouble, but I think they had done something like this before
Marc heard a noise shortly after this so we stopped to make sure all was ok and found the CV boot clip had come off so I put some cable ties on temporarily (later we discover why this might have happened).
Hitting the open road again we come across a future motorway under construction which is basically just a gravel mound at the moment...good angle for a picture again sorry
...
We then tacked some crazy rocks (these are not the worst we saw!) but we had to go this way as it was a 4x4 compulsory route!...
The 2wd was stuck on the supposedly easier route behind
. That car had road tyres on though but it did look cool...
The reward after rock climb trial section was over...
The mountains look even more impressive at dusk...but not far off the campsite now but we arrived in the dark this time!...
On the way back though we came across another friend who had had a puncture! But they spotted it a little late due to a slightly blown exhaust (very blown) and might not be able to use this wheel anymore
...
The final campsite no more tents!! haha Here we had to use rocks to pin it down because the ground was sooo damn hard!..
Anyway that is actually the end of the extreme off roading bits and the next stage was to drive West to Essouira via Marrakesh by road to the hotel for some good rest and a decent shower!
Some decided to have a bit of a wash on the way...but what's the fun in that :devil:
Anyway we made it safely to the hotel near the finish in Essouira...
...and literally just as I indicated off the roundabout to the hotel (few meters from where this photo was taken) the CV gave up! Fighting the steering wheel to park up we had a look at the car and worked out the Diff was fine and that the CV boot had again come loose...
As I pulled the CV boot 2 ball bearings fell out so I thought...hmmm something isn't right here
You might be able to see here that only 2 of the ball bearings are left in the carrier (which had shattered)...
Anyway to work, using the flood lights of the support truck we fitted the new CV joint with the help of the mechanics (use of their tools and some advice) in less than an hour...
It looks wrong when one bit looks so clean and the rest looks like it is made from mud!...
...
So we made it to the official end ceremony and had a well deserved meal and sleep. The marquee at the back of the hotel had chandeliers...swanky haha :slayer:
The following day was the final stage (a raid along the beach :slayer
Managed to get a photo with the mechanics and support staff as well:
Another mk1 :devil:
And team panda GB haha...
So onto the beach!!
We stopped to help the pink mk1 panda which got stuck in some soft sand and had a small mishap with the rear jacking point! So I have some repairs to do here now...although it is a most unusable jacking point it isn't urgent!
The final collection of Pandas ready to do the final dash over the beach to the finish line!...
A close-up of the Pink mk1 panda...it looks like an original colour (as the grey door bottoms is still there)...might have been resprayed though.
I haven't got any pictures of the drive along the beach but when I get the videos done it will be on there
At the finish everyone was chilled out and chatting preparing their cars for the journey home! We put the tyre pressures back up and took some pictures of some of the cars going over the finish line: This panda roof box looks like something Vernon needs on the panda looking pandas :devil:
Panda Camel Combo!!..
All tired after a long drive to Tanger:
Then the long drive through spain to get to the ferry at Santander! We had a very nice stop off in Marbella for a sleep then a drive to a hotel just north of Madrid before driving to the ferry. No problems all the way
I liked this fuel station...
If you notice the sticker on the pump it was reserved specifically for white pandas...:devil:
Anyway some photos of entering the ferry and the rest is history
They put all the high brow cars in the same place as you can see...
Some videos to follow but that's all for now folks!
Si
