An attempt with a Fiat Panda at setting a new world record and beating the time set 30 years ago by a British Army, factory-prepared Range Rover of 14 days for the non-stop drive over 10,300 miles from Cape Town to London got underway yesterday morning.

Philip Young and Paul Brace were clocked out of the Mount Nelson Hotel by South Africa's Motor Sports Association at 6.00am and heading across South Africa; they hoped to reach the frontier of Botswana before 9.00pm last night.

An overnight drive should see them reach the River Zambezi early this morning, where they hope to find a pontoon waiting for them; crossing the half-mile long river will take them to the Zambia border post of Kazungula on the northern bank. There follows a day-long drive through Livingstone and on to Lusaka.

The Fiat Panda is a standard showroom-specification Panda Twin-Air, with a two-cylinder, 875cc engine. Stronger springs, a long-range fuel tank, underfloor protection and a five-inch thick foam mattress in the back, are the only modifications. It set out with just one spare wheel, running on Firestone 165-14 six-ply van tyres, with a tool kit comprising only an adjustable spanner, a hammer and a roll of tank-tape. There is no back-up service crew.

Young and Brace have set themselves a target of 1,000 miles a day for the next ten days. The planned route crosses Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt, then across the top of Northern Africa through Libya to Tunisia. They must catch a ferry out of Tunisia to be on schedule.

The Panda crew are raising money for the charity Farm Africa, who work with local farmers along the route.