Mini World Challenge 2008 and now 2009 going to Silverstone, UK ... !!! ... and finally back home: Monday, October 12, 2009

Monday, October 12, 2009

Under the bonnet ...

This is Gp 0823 ... she has been in the family for few months now and she wont go thru any World Challenge ... she has been getting few mods, mainly from Alta Mini Performance, M7 and Mini Madness.

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Dunlop Tires

Dunlop is one of the big names that trusted me and Mini on this long journey. They did sponsor us with two complete sets of tires. The one that they gave us for the off road section of the trip are the DSST SP Winter Sport 195/55/16 on Enkei wheels. I did encounter very ugly roads and to my complete surprise the tire handle it in a manner that no other brand could. Few times I drove into huge holes thinking that we were done with the trip, and I never even got a flat. To me this tires are the absolute best on the market

Mini Gp 1922 out in the Wine Land ... Piemonte, Italy

After a long winter I am finally taking Mini Gp 1922 out for little rides in the beautiful Wine Land of Piemonte ... a small region in northern Italy, where I am from, that has one important characteristic ... this region has a production of wine that is equal to about 60% worldwide production. That means more wine than France, California, Australia, New Zeland, Chile and now the great Republic of South Africa all together and most of the well known wines like Barbera, Barolo, Barbaresco, Nebbiolo, Brachetto, Dolcetto not to mention the famous white Arneis from the Roero region and many more ... and I am talking about a small region not a state.

Foot Run

Mother Russia

We got in Zarubino after 18 hours on the Dong Chun Ferry and went thru custom with no "problema", just 4 hours to fill up paper work. But we were finally out and for our first time on Russian land, and what a land ... we got a taste of it 30 minutes after we left the port, and I wished I had switched the tires and rims when I was in Korea. Stock rims and tires did well, but my bottom was not really happy. A first taste of gravel was a good "welcome to Russia man" this are our roads and get use to it becouse this is just a tiny taste ... and indeed it was, but I did not know yet and I told my self : well, if its all like that, we get in Vlad, we mount the all-terrain tires provided by Dunlop and we are in business"

Zarubino to Vladivostok

Now I understand why every one told me I was a "crazy horse" wanting to drive across Far East Russia. This picture was taken half way between Zarubino and Vlad, and in a real hurry because all the other cars were driving as fast as they could and four or five feet apart from bumper to bumper. I am used to drive the same way in heavy traffic, but I could not really immagine that was possible to do it on a dirth road and not even caring to drive over apple like size stones, which they were flying like missles around us and Mini. Fantastic ... just what we needed to start this trip.

Korea - August 26 + a day

I have no pictures yet but I want to let everybody know that we finally got in Seoul, Korea.
The Mini Gp its also here and tomorrow morning I will try to finish the paper work to let her out of Korean Custom hands.
I will need to get a temporary insurance and some kind of permit to be able to drive it across the Country.
I know for sure that we want be able to get the Dong Chun Ferry tomorrow, like I planned ... Well !!! I think that we will have to spend a couple of days in beautiful Korea and that will give me the chance to get hold of the Korean Mini Club ... will see.

Bremerton, Wa - August 24,2008

Weather, did not help us out much today, Oyster Bay Inn has been our shelter for most of the day.
We went to the Kitsap Mall in the morning for a little walk and lunch. We met Tim the barber with his wife and he wished us good luck on our crazy trip for the second time.
We are not been productive, and we are now just waiting to get on the other side of the Pacific to start our second part of the Mini Run thru Asia and Europe.
I have been surfing the web, and I found various people on bikes going around the World the same way we will ... and I am a little worry now.
Vlad to Khabarovsk going north on the M60 seems fine but from there to Chita on the Amur highway, things are a little different
The road is not complete like everybody seems to believe, and from what I can see on the latest picture taken from different bikers is not looking very promissing ... gravel and dirt roads, that is all I see.
And the MIni Gp has a very low ground clearance fully loaded ... about 5cm.
Now I know that is going to be a real Challenge for us and for the Mini.

A journey across the World with a Special Edition McS JCW Gp, 1of 2000 assembled by Bertone in Turin, Italy.
Carrozzeria Bertone one of Italy’s oldest and most renowned coachbuilders, was founded in 1914 and from that time on, it has been synonymous with luxury, high performance and the style of cars made in Italy.
Bertone was called in by Mini-BMW in Oxford for the challenge of building 2000 of the most powerful Mini Coopers ever put in production. This task was accomplished by Bertone in 3 and half months, not bad considering that each unit was assembled by a very small team and each of the 2000 cars were driven by two test drivers that I personally met while they were test driving in the streets of Grugliasco, in the province of Turin, that is where the factory is and also where my family and I reside.
On September 18th of 2006, about 11am, I was walking down Via Cravero, and with great surprise, I see on the side of the road two McS GP parked the Italian way, half car on the road and the other half on the side walk, and two guys right next to them smoking a cigarette and wearing the Bertone polo shirt.
I have to stop and look at the cars inside and out. They had the drivers’ side on the right and I came to find out they were for the Japanese market.
I mentioned to the two drivers that I did, in fact order the same car 6 months earlier and that I had only seen the car in magazines. The two men asked me if I knew the special edition number on the car I ordered and they would come back with the actual car that was going to be in my drive way, but I did not know yet. They told me that they were going to test drive two McS GP for the U.S.A. market and would pull in front of my house at 3pm to give me a chance to see them.
At 3pm sharp, they were ringing my door bell. Always with cigarettes in their mouths, they had two minis parked half on the street and half on the sidewalk.
The cars were beautiful, only one little downfall, the American models did not have the Recaro seats that I saw in the other two Japanese models and in the magazines.
We took a couple of pictures and said goodbye, then they drove away … I was so excited, even more when I came to find out that my Mini was being assembled that very same day in September of 2006.
September 25th I was back in the States and November 11of 2006 my McS GP was in my driveway.
415 McS GP’s were delivered in the States between August and October all with their special edition numbers on the roof … mine is GP1922.
I have been dreaming about this extreme ride for years but I could have never imagined that I was going to try it in a small size car like my Mini Gp. I always saw myself accomplishing this journey with a motorcycle.
In our family, we all are hard core bikers starting from my Grandfather, World Champion Class 500cc Gentlemen in 1925 in Monza, Italy. My uncle, Italian and European Champion Class 350cc up-hill sidecar in 1967 and 1968.
I was seating on a motorbike at the tender age of 5 and start on riding them at 9, and I took six months of my life between May and November of 1995 to ride my bike in the four extreme corners of Europe.

This journey will begin August 15, 2008 out of Miami, Florida as the “Mini Gp World Challenge 2008”, going through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington State.
I will be in Seattle by the 20th of August. One last pit stop at the Mini dealer in Tacoma and then I will be ready to drop the car off at the airport. Departing on the 23rd of August from Seattle to Seoul, S. Korea on Cargo Air Freight.
Hopefully I will not encounter any problems with Korean customs and I should be able to drive the Mini out of Incheon International on the 24th which is a Sunday.
Crossing the S. Korean peninsula should not take more than 3 hours, enough time to get us into the long waiting line to board the Dong Chun Ferry the next day, Monday the 25th at 3pm.
Arrival time at Zarubino (Russia) is scheduled for 10am the next day, Tuesday the 26th.
After all the problems with Russian customs, which I am sure will encounter, we will start the drive between Zarubino and Vladivostok for a couple of hours. Vladivostok should be a really nice city to visit and we will be there for a couple of days before starting the real challenge for us and the Mini across the Far East Russia.
The drive between Vlad and Khabarovsk should be an easy one, 800 Km on M60 Highway that will take the whole day of Friday, August 29th.
The next day we will depart Khabarovsk going through Birobidzhan, Svobodnyj, Tynda, Magdagachi, Skovordino, Mogocha, Stretensk, Pervomayskiy, Aginskoye and Chita a total of 2,200 Km and if roads are paved, like I am hoping for, we should make it in four days and be there by September 2nd.
We should take a day in Chita to visit, take a few pictures, and relax.
September 4th we will depart Chita and go to Ulan-Ude, one of the most likable cities in eastern Siberia and home of the world’s largest Lenin head, it’s about 12 tons of cement.
September 6th we will cross the border of Russia into Mongolia, direction Mongolian capital Ulaan Baatar where apparently there is no Mini Cooper available and we could become a real attraction.
September 9th we will be back on the road to cross the Mongolian-Russian border going to Lake Baikal or the Pearl of Siberia, the deepest fresh water lake in the World with a depth of 1,637 mt.
Going 70 km to the north we will get into Irkutsk, where we can get relaxation time for ourselves and the Mini for a couple of days.
September 12th we will depart for a 1,100 km drive north-west to Krasnoyarsk where at this point we should have no problems at all with the conditions of the roads, and we can get there in 24 hours. We will give ourselves a well deserved day break in Krasnoyarsk and then we will be ready for our next goal, Novosibirsk Siberia’s biggest city and we will be there by September 15th.
Early morning of September 17th we will depart for a 530 km driving west to Omsk on highway M51 towards the border of Kazakhstan, which might take a few hours to clear our visas and Mini documentation, and if they let us in we will travel 150 km to Petropavlovsk going east and then about 400 km to the south to get to Astana, capital of Kazakhstan.
September 19th we will take our time to visit the Capital which is the second coldest capital in the world after Ulaan Baatar in Mongolia.
September 21st we will be on our way back to Petropavlovsk and then travel west towards the border of Russia going through Kurgan to Chelyabinsk in the Ural region and in the Europe-Asia border, a journey of about 1,000 km with in two days.
September 24th we will be on our way to Yekaterinburg, about 200 km from Chelyabinsk, and notorious for its bloody history. This is the city where Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed in 1918; this could be an interesting day trip.
September 25th from Chelyabinsk we will go to Ufa, about 380 km.
From Ufa a decision has not been made yet on how to travel to Moscow. We could go through Kazan on Highway M7 or Samara on Highway M5, either way it’s about 1,000 km to get to Moscow.
September 28th, now, the second and longest leg of our trip is over. The plan is to meet with Dimitri from the Miniclub-Russia in Moscow and have a “Mini get together” to celebrate the first crossing done with a Mini Cooper.

Third and last leg of our trip will begin on October the 1st from Moscow to S. Peterburg, about 680km on Highway M10.
October 3rd we will depart going through the Russian-Finnish border going into Helsinki, stop there for a day and depart the 4th going 600km north to Oulu.
October 4th is going to be a long day driving 910km, crossing the Finnish-Norwigian border towards Nordkapp the northernmost point in Europe.
After a day in the cold northernmost point in Europe we will depart going to Lulea towards Stockholm on Highway E4 where we will get after 1.720km on October 7th.
October 9th we will start our Journey going south, back on E4 going to Malmo for the crossing of the longest bridge in Europe that connects Sweden to Denmark, the Oresund Bridge is also the longest border crossing bridge in the world, owned privately, for a total of 670km.
We should be in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, by the end of the day, and we are going to visit the city for a couple of days before our last part of the trip that will take us at the end of this journey across the World.
October 12th we will depart for our last leg of the trip, direction Torino, Italy driving across Germany and Switzerland for a total of 1,550km.
We should be in Torino by the 15th of October, exactly 2 months after our departure from Miami, Florida in U.S.A. and after driving for a total of 22,500km.

This Journey is a journey of a lifetime that will give me a total different view of life.
It’s a chance to know myself and my limits.
It’s a chance to know different cultures and experience them directly without a book or a TV documentary in between.
Is not only an extreme adventure that I will remember for a lifetime it’s also a chance for me to complete a stage in my life and start a new one with a total different prospective.

This will be my trial extreme driving across different Countries in the World with the possibility to create a little group of followers with whom repeat it once a year or every other year as the Mini World Challenge with a great cause in mind … cancer, the plague of the century.

I want to dedicate this journey and the future ones to my father, Bethel Abiel Revelli di Beaumont whom I loved with all my heart till the end of his days on March the 9th of 2008.
Cause of death … Cancer!!!

Oscar Revelli di Beaumont

Mini World Challenge 2008 and now 2009 going to Silverstone, UK ... !!! ... and finally back home

Monday, October 12, 2009

Mona Vie ... my fuel

Sparco ...

Padova - Italy

September 25, 2008 Final destintion

Lisbon ... September 2008

September 10, Ulaan Baatar

Young police officer

September 9, Ulan Ude

September 8, Ulan Ude

Amur Highway

Russian Ramps

Our new friends

Dunlop Tires

September 4, Brake's

Me with my girls

Blog Archive

Contributors

Mini Gp 1922 ... is back home !!!

Mini meets the English countryside ...

Mini United 2009

April 24th 2009

April 19-2009

Lunch at "mASTIcazzi"

mASTIcazzi ... our italian a adventure

Mini Gp 1922 out in the Wine Land ... Piemonte, Italy

Spanish-Portugal border

Paris

Jarek and Marek

Poland

Bellorussia

Moscow

September 15

September 14, Omsk

September 13, Krasnoyarsk

September 11, Lake Baikal

The G4 Land Rover Challenge crew.

Ulaan Baatar

September 10, Svkhbaatar Palace

September 9,Mongolian Border

Second reminder

" Back Home"

Friend driving by ...

Stay in the car ...

TranSiberian Highway/Amur Highway

Amur "Highway"

Foot Run

Russian Police

Vladivostock ... Mini starting point for the Russian crossing

Misha

Mother Russia

Vladivostok September 1st

Zarubino - Vlad Highway #2

Zarubino - Vlad Highway

Zarubino to Vladivostok

Mini first 20 miles on Russian roads

Mother Russia

Zarubino-Russia September 1st

Dong Chun Ferry August 31st

Mini Korea

Korean Cargo

Korea - August 26 + a day

Korean Air Cargo

Bremerton, Wa - August 24,2008

Mini Gp @ Custom - August 22nd

Esther from Seko Worldwide - August 22nd

The Crew

Mini at NorthwestMini in Tacoma, Wa

August 18 - Mt. Rushmore

August 17 - S. Louis, Illinois

First speeding ticket

August 16 - Georgia State

Ryan Brennan and the Mini Gp

August 15 - Ethos

Sponsors

Mini Stickered

Picture of me with my daughter and the MCS GP test driven by Dario and Walter on September 18-2006

Me and my father at Villa Revelli

Me w/ Pedro Vidal