Oh, the Horror!!!

I received the sad news from Team Ladybird this weekend.
They're effectively out of the race.

In the end, it wasn't the rabid yaks, or the washed out roads of Mongolia that did them in. It wasn't a bad bowl of mutton stew, malaria or migraines.
It was a little bearing, deep within the engine which ground the car to a screeching halt.

They broke down in Uzbekistan, just outside of Turkmenistan, and ended up towing the car across the border. Turns out Turkmenistan is run like a Police State and the boys weren't allowed to veer from the course to get the car to a mechanic, nor were they allowed to go ahead of the rally or stay behind to fix the car. There was nothing they could do but tow the car along for the entire two days, being forced to stay with the group.

They have been told that there may be greater possibilities for repair in Iran and that in Turkey, there are a number of ace VW mechanics, but that's many days away and might be so expensive as to not be worth it.

As much as Garrick sounded disappointed, he also sounded a little relieved to be done with the rally. He said the schedule was grueling and the few days off they have had so far, were spent fixing the car, or making adjustments or doing preventative maintenance.

All that aside, he said it has also been an incredible experience: That everyone they have met has been excited to see them, friendly and welcoming; That when passing through small towns, the populations gather along the sides of the road to wave at them; That they have been made to feel like rock stars.

Garrick didn't know what the next steps would be, but he promised to keep us posted. Stay tuned for further developments.

Holding Strong in 9th Place.

The boys are holding strong in spot number nine. With 144:00:23 hours of road time under their belts (and an entire day lost to a breakdown) they are a mere 11 hours and 53 minutes behind the leader - a Holden EH.
They are still ahead of Garrick's father - Car #97 in a Volkswagen Beetle - by 5 minutes and 35 seconds, a tentative lead at best.
With only 16 days left in the race, anything could happen. Stay tuned for further updates!

Click Here to See the Official Results

Country Number 5!

As of today, the rally has now entered country number 5. Uzbekistan.

That should make for an interesting passport stamp. I know very few people who even know where Uzbekistan IS, let alone have a stamp in their passport from such an exotic locale.

There hasn't been any direct news from car 106, so all I know is the location of the little red dots as per SkyTag - the satellite tracking system that has been installed in many of the cars (click on the link just below the photo above to see for yourself).

Car 106 does not have SkyTag installed, so for all we know, Garrick and Robert have succumbed to a yak attack (highly unlikely as there are no yaks in Kazakhstan OR Uzbekistan).

What I CAN offer is some information on Uzbekistan - thanks to Wikipedia...
Uzbekistan is classified as a constituent republic
It's a dry, landlocked country; one of two doubly landlocked countries in the world i.e., a country completely surrounded by landlocked countries – the other being Liechtenstein.
Partially conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 BC
Completely conquered by Genghis Khan during the 13th century
Conquered by Russia early in the 20th century
Declared independance in 1991
Ostensibly, a democratic republic
Approximately 90% Islamic
Noodle and mutton-based dishes characterize the majority of Uzbek Cuisine
45% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day

I bet they have really cool passport stamps.