A 24-strong team of UK military veterans driving 90s budget vans, three 4x4 support vehicles, including a 4-man film crew and private fundraisers, all left the UK on the 22nd of March for the Driven to Extremes Morocco ‘Dakar’ Challenge 2018, arranged by Max Adventure.
Driven to Extremes is an organisation that aids the recovery of military veterans suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) by taking them on challenging vehicle expeditions. In this 19 day, 1,000-mile trek across the Sahara Desert, veterans retraced the original Dakar Rally route through sand, rock and gravel, driving in the Western Sahara along the eastern border of Morocco with Algeria.
The relentless pace ensures that the veterans are overwhelmed with new and rapidly changing experiences. Operating in remote and demanding environments, working as valued members of a close-knit team and the support within, opportunities for leadership, and the military banter, helps push horrific memories to the back of their minds.
While the veterans are no stranger to extreme conditions, it was good to know that team leader Mac Mackenny’s personal YB3 could be trusted to keep the expedition in contact with the outside world.
“This particular model has had a very hard life, having endured -60C in Siberia, +50C of the Taklamakan Desert, 100% humidity of the Malaysian jungle, not to mention 12,000 bone-juddering miles in between. It then drove another 12,000 miles to far-eastern Siberia, reached the most extreme northerly point of the UK and scaled the 5 highest peaks of the UK & Ireland in under 48 hours!”