The Lada Rally

The Lada Rally is an Intracontinental car rally that begins in Tallinn, Estonia and ends in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Often referred to as the "Race of Hope" and "The Balkan Trek", the Lada Rally sees on average a 65% completion rate. There are five fundamental Rules of the Rally:

1. Rally teams must haggle themselves a 'monstrosity of a car' for less than €750 in Estonia.
2. Rally teams must leave from Tallinn on a 'hideously miscalculated' route towards Greece.
3. Rally teams are unsupported.
4. Rally teams get hours knocked off their finishing time by visiting extra countries, discovering alternative landmarks called "LadaStops" and discovering all that eastern Europe has to offer.
5. Rally teams must make it to the finish line in Thessaloniki in 168 hours (7 days).

The organizers are careful to point out that racing on highways is illegal. There are other differences from mainstream rallies, particularly the fact that no support team is provided and no other arrangements are made such as for accommodation, maintenance, or fuel.

Background

Contestants of the inaugural 2017 Rally

The inaugural rally took place in 2017, in which 11 teams started and 8 completed the course.

The Lada Rally is run as a charity event with all cars that are deemed 'roadworthy' after the race being donated to Refugee camps and associated organisations in Northern Greece, as well as the proceeds from the entry fees used to organise the event with the remaining donated to charity.

The 2017 rally left Tallinn, on 26 August 2017 and finished in Split at 2 September 2017.

The 2018 rally left Tallinn, on 25 August 2018 and finished in Thessaloniki at 1 September 2018.

Routes

There are an array of suggested routes that teams may take. After setting off from Tallinn, teams normally make their way to Thessaloniki via the Baltic States, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, before diverging west to either the Adriatic Coast or east to Romania and Bulgaria. Although, some teams have traveled as far east as the Ukraine and Turkey.

The final leg of the rally takes the surviving vehicles into Greece and onto the finish line at an undisclosed location overlooking Thessaloniki. None of the available routes are necessarily comfortable or safe: damage to cars, bribes and other related incidents are common. On 26 August 2018, one British participant trying to cross into Ukraine was held overnight by Polish border guards on the charge of attempting to drive a stolen car across the border.

Depending on the route taken, the total distance driven is around 2 to 3 thousand miles (approximately 4 to 5 thousand kilometres) and most teams complete the rally within the 7 day time limit.

The most countries ever passed through on the Lada Rally is currently 17, done in 2017 by a New Zealand team, Up The Boohai!

Vehicles

There are no restrictions on the engine size or make of the vehicle, as long as it was purchased for less than €750.

Ideally though, race organizers prefer people movers or estate cars as these would be more useful for the refugee organisations the cars are bring given to in Greece.

After the rally

The 2018 finish line and contestants in Thessaloniki

Some of the cars do not make it to Greece; they are either sold when they break down, or scraped due to time pressure. Previous rally vehicles can now be found operating throughout the Balkans thanks to enterprising local mechanics who have repaired abandoned vehicles.

There were many refugee organizations in Greece who were grateful for the vehicles; furthermore, the low cost of running the cars in made it economical to repair and run old cars that would be scrapped in Western Europe. Nevertheless, due to the concerns, the organizers of the Rally stipulated in the contract with teams in 2017 that they should not remove components from the car, such as the rear seats, to ensure that the vehicles remained useful when being transferred over into the care of the Refugee camps.

The organisations supported so far have been:

• The Worldwide Tribe
• Aniko
• The Open Cultural Centre

Entry fee

The 2017 entry fee was £65.

The 2018 entry fee was £105

Organizers

The Lada Rally is organized by a group of friends who met during their time at Grant Thornton UK. Grant Thornton has also hosted Lada Rally related events and assisted with the opening events in Tallinn.

“ The Lada Rally was born out of obsession for adventure and a desire for tangible change in our world. Where one Lada failed, another will take it's place, culminating in an extensiatial shift in the minds and hearts of the contestants, organizers and the people of the wider ex Eastern bloc. ” — Tom, Ozzy, Hannah and Andy discussing the meaning of Lada around a table at the Green Man, London.

Sponsorship

From 2018, Lada Rally secured a partnership with Ben & Jerry's, who have provided prizes and other incentives to the Rally itself and associated events.

In addition, teams have been sponsored from various organisations to assist with raising funds to support the charities Lada Rally is partnered with.

Teams

On average, between 10-15 teams enter the rally annually. Most teams have 2-4 people.

The teams and drivers for the 2017 season were as follows:

Team	2017 Result	Car	Drivers
Up the Boohai	1st	2003 Peugeot 206 5dr Turbo	Robert, Christian, Ashlin
The Last and Furious	2nd		Samson, Joana
Wade Boggs Memorial Express	3rd		Osneil, Tom, Andy, Ben
Hot Garbage	4th	Volkswagen Passat	Tom, Beth, Liam, Joe
The Tribe A	5th		Jaz, Polly, Burma, Josh, Fin
The Tribe B	6th		Mike, Nils, Hannah, Joe
Pina CoLADA	7th		Charlotte, Mari, Dan, Matt
Dicks Dastardly	DNF/DTF		Olly, Craig, Ollie
Born Slippy	DNR		Dave, Trevor, Del, Pete

NB: only 4 of the above cars made it to Greece after completing the race.

The teams and drivers for the 2018 season were as follows:

Team	2018 Result	Car	Drivers
Boohai Once Boohai Twice	1st	1996 Subaru Legacy XL	Rob, Christian, Ashley, Ashlin
The Social Magnets	2nd	Renault Megane	Ru, Amy, Charlotte, Hannah
I'm Tallinn You This Is a Bad Idea	3rd	VW Golf Estate	Ed, Tom, Max
Livin' La Vida Lada	4th	Ford Escort Convertible	Ed, Jamie, Pedro
East 7team	5th	Renault Espace	Will, Simon, Andrew, Hannah
The Turkish Melonsmashers	6th	BMW 320	Angus, Tom, Harry
Fitzcarraldo	DNF	Mercedes Benz E-Class	Kester, Matt, Sam, Henry, Julian
Lada FC	DNF	Volvo 460	Andy, Tom, Sam

NB: only 6 of the above cars made it to Greece after completing the race.

See also

• Charity rally
• Mongolia charity rally
• Mongol Rally
• Plymouth-Banjul Challenge
• Budapest-Bamako
• Roof of the world rally
• Silk Road Race
• Złombol

External links

• https://www.myswft.com/lada-rally.aspx
• https://www.mattthemiseryguts.com/lada-rally/
• The Lada Rally on Twitter
• The Lada Rally on Facebook
• The Lada Rally on Instagram
• https://www.networkmarketingjobs.com/.../tommy-takes-on-the-lada-rally-challenge/
• http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/aylesbury-local-tom-francis-and-friends-take-on-mammoth-charity-drive-1-8113591
• https://www.theladarally.com/
• http://www.thechildrenofstars.com/blog.html
• https://openculturalcenter.org/
• https://www.weareaniko.com/
• https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/ladarally1
• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tommy-takes-lada-rally-challenge-jonathan-hirst/#
• http://tinylightproductions.com/the-lada-rally---tiny-light.html
• http://www.sponsorme.co.uk/edwardkirk-(1)/lada-rally.aspx

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