World-record race

Come September 21, a team consisting of Rainer Zietlow, Marius Biela and Matthias Prillwitz will set off on a record-setting drive from Nordkapp, Norway, to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa, in a Volkswagen Touareg.

The team has already completed two successful world-record-setting trips from Tierra del Fuego, off South America’s southern tip, to Alaska (in 11 days and 17 hours) and a second from Melbourne, Australia, to Russia’s Saint Petersburg (in 17 days and 18 hours).

The team will traverse the 17 000 km-plus route  through the European countries of Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey. It will then continue in Africa through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Zietlow and the team are planning to reach Cape Agulhas in around ten days.

During the drive, the team will post daily reports of its experiences on the website. It will also have a blog, with photos and a brief video, which will provide information on each day’s stage.

The current position of the Touareg will be shown on a virtual map that is updated every five minutes.

The event isn’t only about setting a new world record, however, as the team has pledged to support Food & Trees for Africa with the planting of about 600 trees around the city of Johannesburg, in October 2014. These trees will make the entire Touareg Cape-to-Cape project CO₂ and climate-neutral.