A PAIR of adventurous best friends from Malmesbury have become the first team to cross the finish line of this year’s Mongol Rally.

Jonathan Tucker and Charlie Barder completed the 8,400 mile journey from Goodwood to Siberia so quickly they even got there a day before the finish line opened.

The Mongol Rally is an annual car rally where competitors must travel unsupported to the Russian city of Ulan Ude near Lake Baikal in a car with a 1000cc engine limit.

The journey took the duo less than four weeks and along the way they encountered a nuclear fallout zone, threatening Kazakhstani policemen and wild Mongolian horsemen, all in the name of raising more than £13,000 for charity.

“It was very challenging but good fun, it’s quite an accomplishment and we feel really good”, said Jonathan.

“It wasn’t a race but it was nice to finish first because it meant we had planned it properly and had done the right things.”

Jonathan and Charlie’s route took them through France, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia before reaching Siberia.

They crossed the Carpathian Mountains, visited the remains of Chernobyl and stopped off at the Aral Sea.

“We made a wrong turn in Almaty and had to make a donation to the policeman’s benevolent fund”, joked Jonathan.

“Mongolia had the worst roads in the world, it was hours of really bad driving.

“We got stuck in a sand mound and had to be towed out by some local guys who were building the roads.”

They averaged 14 hours a day driving on four to five hours sleep a night but otherwise their car, which they had checked over and received some mechanical training from Cooper’s in Hankerton, had very few problems.

Jonathan, who has written three books about the Silk Road, was delighted to have completed the entire length of the historic route having visited parts of central Asia numerous times throughout his career.

“We completed the route without any really serious incidents and dropped the car off for it to be shipped back on the Trans-Siberian Railway”, said Jonathan.

“Then we got in a taxi and it crashed!”

The pair said they had the time of their lives and urged anyone thinking about an epic adventure like this to just go for it.

To donate to their fundraising campaign go to uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JonathanTucker1 or uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CharlesBarder