We were up early in Windhoek but the rally had already moved on

We got straight Down to the merc dealer to find the car on the hoist with the sump guard and sump off and being repaired.

The oil pump had taken a big hit but looked ok

We also replaced the flexible coupling in the rear of the drive shaft and changed the oil filter

The radiator was repaired with epoxy and the sump silver soldered

All was reinstalled with a very small bill from the Mercedes guys and off we went at about 21 with a plan concocted by the service manager ronnie to get back to the rally about half way through their day

S off we went flying down the highway pretty fast, all running really well

We stopped after about an hour to swap so Sam could drive and about a mile down the road the oil pressure disappeared.

We pulled up and had a fiddle then tried to call the Merc guys but we were in a poor mobile area

We tried the sat phone but that didn’t have much connection

So we walked up and down the road trying the phone and discussing options

We finally agree to drive the car as far as we could back north until we got telephone reception.

We got about 4kms when the phone picked up

We had lengthy discussions with Mercedes about the pump and the impossible task of getting replacement, and the options to tow north or south or to cape town. Towing long distance in Namibia was Not an option

So our race was over. No parts at least until next week, and the rally finishing in 2 days.

The car was not worth the huge expense to ship it to cape town and then back to Aus, pretty disappointing

I had a look at the distance to cape town and I was 1500 km exactly to cape town. In the Peking to Paris we broke down exactly 1500 km from Paris and could not finish. Pretty freaky

So we finally called for a tow back to the Mercedes dealer, with ronnie, the service manager offering to drive down and pick us up and drive us to cape town overnight some 1500kms away

We had tried to get a hire car but they were all booked out and flights were available on saturday morning but we had so much gear to move it would have been really expensive. We need to get the gear to cape town so we could load it into a container with one of the other cars

We also had to deal with the carnet, and we were advised that nothing could be done on friday afternoon

So we opted for the lift and an attempt get through the border without the car

We had given the car to ronnie for free as he recon’d he would spend some time and fix it up both mechanically and structurally. She wasn’t worth shipping home

So eventually the tow turned up after we had been on the side of the road for 7 hours without water or food and it was really hot

We got a lift to a little town 59kms north and hopped out their to wait for Ronnie to pick us up about an hour later

Ronnie turned up, we loaded up and off we went at 159kph through the night

The rear drive shaft coupling shot and we replaced it thanks to owen

Secret MB spotted in Nabibia Merc Dealer

Ronnie is the sevice manager. He and the Mercedes team took us under their wing and had us fixed and out the door by 11am

Crack on rh side

Sam and Ronnie route planning so we can catch rally by mid competition

Really serious cracks appearing in the rear chassis

Just as well be banged the sump. The hoist saved us from having to replace this unit whilst on the ground

150km south of Windhoek and well on the way to catching up and no oil pressure and no mobile phone service

Couldn't even get service on the sat phone

We were pushing pretty hard to catch up. It was do or die time

We drove the car about 4 kms at idle to get mobile phone reception. It was really hot and no food or water for 6 hours

Locals didnt even blink

Last photos of the car see the rear end starting to fall off

Stripped of all our gear and donated to the merc dealer in Nabibia

On our way south. Tis is near where the car stopped

Sump off in merc dealer see the hit like a steel bar had come straight in

Some local guys who apparently worked in the diamond mines