Ten thousand miles across mountains and desert in a car fit for scrap, the Mongol Rally isn’t for the fainthearted.

Anyone who signs up does at their peril: there’s no set route, no one to call if you get lost and no one to help if you have engine problems.

Finding food or drinks can be difficult; a car or sleeping bag is likely your best chance at a bed.

You also have to raise at least £1,000 for charity.

Bermudian Andrew Black is taking on the challenge with Nikola Rodic, a Serb he met in university. They’ll be among the hundreds racing to Ulan-Ude, Russia from Britain’s Goodwood Motor Circuit on July 16.

“I’ve driven across Australia and back and driven across Europe, but nothing of this magnitude,” said Mr Black, 26.

“We did a test ride from Switzerland to Serbia for the weekend for a giggle. It rekindled a passion for budget travel based around auto-tourism. From there, not only did we have the brainwave to commit to [the] rally, but to raise funds for the CoolEarth deforestation-stopping charity.”

Their weapon is a canary yellow 2002 Peugeot 106 they restored with duct tape, WD40, a screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

“It’s not pretty whatsoever,” said Mr Black. “We modernised it — basically put in a sump guard, which protects rocks from hitting the engine, and a custom-built roof rack — and covered it in stickers.”

Only six teams set out when “the greatest motoring adventure on the planet” started in 2004. Entrants swelled to 350 this year, with any number of possible routes to the finish line.

People typically travel through Moscow, Kiev or Istanbul; more adventurous types have hit the Arctic Circle or gone south to Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. With damage to cars, robberies and minor injuries common, the completion rate hovers around 70 per cent.

Most are lured by the promise of race organisers, The Adventurists: “B*ll*cks to tarmac, ABS and gadgets that help you find your navel. The Mongol Rally is about getting lost, using your long neglected wits, raising shedloads of cash for charity and scraping into the finish line with your vehicle in tatters and a wild grin smeared across your grubby face. Neither your car, nor your life, will ever be the same again.

“Your chances of being seriously injured or dying as a result of taking part are high.

“Individuals who have taken part in the past have been permanently disfigured, seriously disabled or lost their life. These are not holidays. These are adventures and so by their very nature extremely risky. You really are putting both your health and life at risk. That’s the whole point.”

Team Sputnik V signed up mid-March.

“I’m doing it primarily for the kicks,” Mr Black joked. “I heard about it when I was 18 or 19 and thought about doing it, but considered I was too immature to take it on. With the life experience I’ve had since then, I think I’m ready. The idea is to do it in a terrible car and suffer along the way. The whole thing is absolutely mind-boggling and scary, but at the same time it could be the best thing we ever get to do with ourselves.”

The pair anticipate they’ll reach the finish line “sometime near the end of August”.

Their plan is to drive from England to Dunkirk, Germany, continuing through Europe to Istanbul and along the northern border into Georgia before travelling on to Azerbaijan, north into Russia and around the Caspian Sea into Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

“From there, we will re-enter Kazakhstan, hop north into Russia again to go finally into Mongolia and onwards to the destination,” he said. “Some people try to do it as fast as possible. The record is five days.”

Mr Black, who graduated with Mr Rodic from Les Roches International University of Hotel & Business Management this year, worked in Gosling’s Dark n’ Stormy tent in the America’s Cup Village to raise the necessary cash to participate.

He anticipates it will cost about £3,090, not including any bribes they might have to pay along the way. There’s also the £1,000 minimum they hope to raise for CoolEarth; donations on their JustGiving page had reached £799.04 at the time of writing.

“We’ve stripped down the car, the seats go all the way back so we can sleep there,” Mr Black said.

“We have a tent, although I’m not sure if we’ll want to sleep outside in the middle of Mongolia.

“We plan to take as many tins of food as we can and also [space] food. We hope we meet people along the way. The idea is to offer what we can in exchange for a cooked meal or somewhere to sleep through the night. We know a Kazakhstani horse farmer and a girl from Mongolia, and a friend of ours has a restaurant in Istanbul so we know we’ll get at least one hot meal.”

They’ll take an iPhone so friends and family can follow their travels.

“Our parents are thrilled, excited, terrified, hope nothing goes wrong and [that we] have a great time,” Mr Black said.

“The iPhone will be used mostly to communicate via Instagram and Facebook, to allow people to track our progress. An emergency GPS beacon is on board as well that serves to tell you where the tool is, but not necessarily where we are. Hopefully that puts the parental fears to rest a little at least.”

Once the race is over, it’s back to real life. First, they have to work out how to move the car. Rally rules require all vehicles must be shipped or driven back home.

“Currently it looks as though we will ship it to Lithuania and catch the Trans-Siberian Rail home (a celebration, if you will) before catching the car in Vilnius and bringing it to the Belgrade National Car Museum of Serbia where we have been promised [by Nikola’s contacts] a place for it to be exhibited to the day it rusts through completely.

“Long-term employment is on the cards. I can’t speak for Nikola [but] for myself, most likely London, though Kenya has presented opportunities. Most interestingly, following the thorough enjoyment working [at the America’s Cup Village] and a subsequent offer of employment with the Volvo Ocean Race in New Zealand, it could be more travel on the horizon, no doubt.”

Learn more here: www.theadventurists.com/mongol-rally/www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MongolRally-TeamSputnikV. Follow them on Instagram: budgetspaceprogram; Facebook: Team Sputnik.

Interested in signing up for Mongol Rally 2018? Check out the costs below:

Time to rally

• Team entrance fee: £525

• Visas: Roughly £500

• Food and drink: £600 budgeted

• Insurance: £115

• Spares and repairs: £750

• Fuel: £600

• Charitable donation: £1,000 minimum

• Additional expenses (bribes, extra fuel etc): £910 budgeted