91Pro

Engineers rev up for trip of a lifetime to raise funds for charity

Posted 1 April

Blake Steele and Rory McElhinney inspect one of the bikes they are hoping to use on the rally

A pair of automotive engineers from 91Pro are preparing to test their skills on the trip of a lifetime later this year.

Friends Blake Steele and Rory McElhinney are hoping to undertake the Mongol Rally – which takes competing teams across Europe and Asia, from Prague to Kazakhstan.

MEng Automotive Engineering student Rory, from Limavady in Northern Ireland, and BEng (Hons) Automotive Engineering (Off-Highway) student Blake, from near Hull in East Yorkshire, hit on the idea in 2024 – when both were on their industrial placement year.

Rory said: “I spent my placement year with M-Sport, working on their WRC programme. It was an incredible experience, getting to see how a top-level motorsport team operates and contributing to real engineering challenges.

“I learned a huge amount about vehicle development, testing, and performance optimisation.

“Blake and I stayed in touch throughout our placement year, and one of us came across a YouTube video about the Mongol Rally.

“It looked like an amazing challenge, and once the idea was in my head, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I’d regret not doing it - travelling through places you’d never normally go, the challenge of making it on the bikes, and just seeing how far we can push ourselves. It’s not going to be easy, but that’s what makes it worth doing.”

And Blake, who spent his placement year at GOS Tool and Engineering Services Ltd, added: “I think the thing I'm most looking forward to about the rally is meeting all sorts of different people from different cultures.

“We will be travelling through parts of the world that you wouldn't usually go to on your family holiday, which are often some of the most interesting places. We also plan to share a little bit of British culture wherever we go, sharing cups of tea with people as we stop.”

Rally competitors are challenged to make the journey – which can be between 8,000 and 10,000 miles long depending on their route – without a support team and with a vehicle ideally under 1000cc.

The intrepid pair will be making their journey on two 125 cc motorbikes – repairing and maintaining them on the way.

Each team which enters the rally is also expected to raise at least £500 for charity – though Blake and Rory have set their sights far higher and are aiming to raise £10,000 for the Farm Safety Foundation.

The Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) is a small independent registered charity, working throughout the UK to address the attitudes and behaviours to farm safety and poor mental health in the next generation of farmers - those under 40 years of age.

Stephanie Berkeley, Farm Safety Foundation Manager says: “We’re so grateful to Blake and Rory for choosing to support Yellow Wellies with this incredible challenge. As a small charity working to change attitudes around farm safety and mental well-being in the next generation of farmers, support like this really does mean the world. We can’t wait to follow their journey!”

Rory added: “We’re documenting the whole journey—from planning to actually taking part—so people can follow along on our social media and videos.”

The team’s YouTube channel can be found at

The pair are also looking to work with corporate sponsors as they prepare to undertake their trek – and have already set up fundraising pages.

Blake added: “Another way for people to support us is by attending some of the fundraising events that we plan on hosting – we have barbeques and other fundraisers in the works, which should be good.

“There is also a JustGiving page that we have set up with all donations going to the Farm Safety Foundation, so anyone who wants to support us can do so there!”

The teams GoFundMe page can be found at: and their Just Giving page at: