One on One with Mark Jennings-Bates
Mark Jennings-Bates is a man with a sense of adventure. Someone who loves a good challenge. Next January, Mark will be taking on the challenge of a lifetime – actually two. Mark has just recently been named to the first ever Bowler factory team to contest the 2011 Dakar rally. As if trying to survive the world’s toughest motorsport event wasn’t enough, he also hopes to save 200,000 people in South America and Africa. By using the event to promote Rally4Life.org, Mark also hopes to raise four-million dollars to help bring clean water to those who need it in these troubled areas.
RPM: Tackling the Dakar is a monumental undertaking. Why did you decide to pursue such an adventure?
MJB: I’ve always been one who seeks out adventure. When I was younger, I was really into mountaineering and rock climbing, and my goal was to climb Everest. With a young family, I had to gear it down and make sure I was there for them. Well, now my kids have moved out and both Jackie and I are looking how to fill a void in our lives. I’ve been rally racing here in Canada for several years now, but I’ve always wanted to do something big, and there is nothing bigger than Dakar. Jackie also has a real passion for philanthropy, so we combined our efforts to create Rally4Life.
RPM: How long have you been planning this dual challenge?
MJB: Most people don’t realize that you just don’t wake up one morning and say you’re going to do the Dakar. We’ve been working on this for four years now, and the next year is going to be the toughest yet. It truly is a monumental undertaking. We started by setting 2011 as our target date to have everything in place, then we went looking for suitable charities that we wanted to work with. We interviewed a charity in the UK and one over here, signed on, and that got the ball rolling.
RPM: So you have your dates and charities set up, now you need a vehicle and team?
MJB: Yeah, I asked my brother to be a co-driver, and he wasn’t quite up to it, but he told me about this guy called Mick Extance, who trained him how to ride enduros. Apparently, he is one of Britain’s top Dakar riders and wanted to get into the 4WDs. So I called Mick with not much expectation, and he was ecstatic about the prospect. So this is bizarre, we now have some tremendous talent, Mick has seven years Dakar experience and can read sand dunes at 150 km/h, so he adds quite a bit to the team. Then we still needed a car to race. Mitsubishi had turned us down here, but Mick said that Bowler was looking to get him in one of its trucks. So I told him to have a go, and a couple of days later, I have a message on my phone saying Bowler would like us to be the factory drivers.
RPM: Thats quite a story. So Bowler will be running a factory effort next year, and you will be one of the factory drivers?
MJB: Yeah, I couldn’t quite believe it myself; I figured that there would still be a price tag attached to the offer. So I was talking to Drew Bowler, the company owner, in the team’s shop, and I asked him how much I owed him. And he came back saying, “No, no, you are on the factory team, you are driving for me now.” So I say, “Great, that’s just fine then.” Not only that, but I managed to talk Drew into adopting the Rally4Life charity effort for the whole team, so all the trucks and service vehicles will be carrying our logo, and the whole team is behind us.
RPM: So you will be competing in a Bowler Wildcat?
MJB: No, actually. Bowler has been developing an all-new desert racer called the Nemesis. Its body-shell is based off the Range Rover Sport, but it’s a custom Bowler tube-frame chassis that’s been updated from the Wildcat, and it will be powered by a Jaguar twin-turbo diesel engine.
RPM: So that’s a massive program that has come together for you. Does that come down to just hard work, or are you lucking out along the way?
MJB: Well it’s both, really. We have had some really good luck, but we’ve both also put a huge amount of work into this. I’m always working hard to get the team out in the media, to give us the exposure that is required to do something of this magnitude. And we have a lot of hard work ahead of us, as we are about to embark on a speaking program around the country to get the word out, and give the charity the exposure it needs. So you might see me on the breakfast TV shows pretty soon.
RPM: How much time must you dedicate to this program?
MJB: Well, the workout routine alone, I do a 2-km swim every morning, then medicine ball workout at noon, then a 5-km run. That’s every day, just so that I’m physically ready to meet the challenges of competing in a 15-day race, driving upwards of a thousand km a day in desert conditions well into the night if needed. We also have a progressive sleep deprivation program set up, so that by December, I’ll have 12 consecutive nights of sleep deprivation. And that’s just the physical side; there is a massive amount of logistical, communication, sponsorship and paper work needed which takes up about 30 percent of my day, every day. I’ve been fortunate that my employer has allowed me to take the time needed to get all the work done, and it’s only going to start ramping up from here on in.
RPM: Now that’s a lot of pressure you’ve now put on yourself, and you’re well past the point of no return?
MJB: We are way past the point of no return, and that’s fine. I think I handle pressure quite well, and this is something we were both completely dedicated to in the very beginning. So, I love a good challenge, I like the pressure to perform, and I welcome it.
RPM: So let’s move to the charity side of this project you’ve taken on; tell us more about that.
MJB: Well, Rally4Life started out as a one-off deal for us, but it’s really turned into a business for Jackie and me that will last for the rest of our lives. In essence, our goal is to bring clean water to 200,000 people who don’t have access to it. The charity we work with here in town started working with children in Guatemala, and is currently on the ground in southern Sudan installing water wells. The English-based charity is working in northern Kenya doing much the same thing. So money that we receive is used to fund these organizations to help bring water to those in need. Of course, we will also oversee everything.
RPM: How much are you looking to raise in this effort and how can people get involved?
MJB: The numbers say it costs $20 to give a child clean water for a lifetime. We have the goal of supplying 200,000 people with clean water, so we are looking to raise $4-million for this one event. Now, that is all dependent on the exposure that we can get for the cause. The Dakar will do a lot for us, the TV coverage should help, but we will also have a production company from Vancouver which will be producing a documentary that has already been picked up by a couple of countries, so that all helps. When it comes to your audience, anyone interested in our adventure or who wants to donate to Rally4Life can simply check out our webpage at Rally4Life.org. You will find lots of info and there is a donate button you can click to help support the effort.
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