A KENDAL team driving 10,000 miles to Mongolia for charity has relayed a series of hair-raising moments.

Team Marco Yolo set off from South Lakeland on July 18 to take part in the epic Mongol Rally, which sees vehicles – most of which are old and powered by engines no larger than 1,000cc – drive across Europe and into Asia.

Good progress was made initially through Europe with a highlight being the traverse of the Transfagarasan highway in Romania.

But the team – like many of the others taking part in the rally – was delayed for six days in the port of Baku in Azerbaijan, waiting for a ferry to cross the Caspian Sea. During this period their Ajerbaijan visa expired and they spent a couple of hours being questioned by customs officers.

A post by the team on a website run by rally organisers The Adventurists stated: “I am ashamed to say that I temporarily became a Man Utd fan in order to please the officers in Azerbaijani customs.”

Eventually the team, comprising Paul Thomas and Alex Ramsey, crossed the Caspian Sea but there was more drama lying ahead in Turkmenistan when the rooftop of their 18-year-old Nissan Micra, nicknamed ‘Roxanne’, fell off while on some rough roads.

Another highlight of the trip was seeing the famous Door to Hell, a natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan, that has been burning continuously since it was discovered in 1971.

The latest message from the team stated they were at Zharkent in Kazakhstan. Roxanne had just hit 100,000 miles on the clock.

The team hopes to raise £10,000 by completing the challenge and will donate the majority of the cash to Multiple Sclerosis UK - with £500 going to the environmental charity Cool Earth.

You can follow their progress on the Gazette's website at http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/opinion/mongol_rally_adventure/ or on the rally tracking blog at http://tracking.theadventurists.com/#mongolrally/mongolrally2015

To donate to the Marco Yolo team visit justgiving.com/MarcoYolo