On 3 March 2018, Tanja Meyer of OIL! Tankstellen and her rally partner Hans-Werner Hertzsch joined 50 other teams on a true adventure: A rally where the goal was not to be the fastest, but to reach the destination, in this case Banjul, the capital of Gambia, 7,000 kilometers away. They completed the journey in a custom-designed vehicle, and covered the full costs of the trip, including accommodation, road tolls, food, return flight, and the cost of the car themselves.
The team collected lots of donations, and honored each donor with a sticker on their car. Organized by the Breitengrad e.V. charity, the rally has been running since 2006, starting twice a year – in February/March and October/November.
All of the vehicles used in the rally are then sold to the highest bidder in an auction organized by an NGO called DBO. The auction proceeds go to DBO projects and other good causes such as schools, hospitals, and aid projects. Robert Kurtze, Managing Director of OIL! Tankstellen was more than happy to support his colleagues with this unusual project, with in-kind donations as well as a generous petrol voucher.
At the destination, the car itself sold for close to 4,000 euros. All together, the cars in the rally raised approximately 130,000 euros for charity.