Army driver Gary Wickenden will drive, eat and sleep for over two days in a 4x4 car in a non-stop dash across Europe.

Sergeant Wickenden, from Allerton, Bradford, is hoping to break the record set for driving from the northern tip of Norway to the southern tip of Spain - and raise cash for charity.

He is part of a four-man team of Army colleagues competing in the gruelling race, the Cape to Cape Challenge 2000. The team leaves Britain for Norway and the starting post at the end of this month.

"We are hoping to beat the current world record, which is 56 hours and 28 minutes," said Sgt Wickenden.

"We also want to raise money for a girl called Jennifer Hickson, who has leukaemia, and St James' Hospital in Leeds.

"Since the record was set, a new road tunnel and bridge have been constructed between Sweden and Denmark, replacing the ferries previously used, and there is now every possibility that the record can be broken," he said.

All four team members work at the Defence School of Transport at Normandy Barracks, Leconfield, near York.

During the race, when they will stop their Vauxhall Frontera 4x4 vehicle only to refuel, they will take it in turns at the wheel. A four-hour driving stint will be followed by four hours at rest, then four hours of sleep followed by four hours with the map.

"We will have two awake at any one time and we will take the food we need with us and eat as we go," he said.

"They are a good bunch of blokes. We are very hopeful because we have sat down and looked at the map and think the record can be broken."

The journey is around 3,700 miles in length and under the rules teams must observe national speed limits.

Sgt Wickenden, who has been in the Army for 20 years, is a former pupil of Rhodesway School and his mother and brother still live at Allerton.

e-mail: sarah.walsh

@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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