Long story short - in 2004, Jez decided to go and race in what's widely regarded as the toughest off-road race in the world, 1200km through a Russian swamp, competing against million-dollar hardware with a car built in a shed in Basingstoke. Over the next 5 years he assembled a team of like-minded idiots and returned to Russia 5 more times with ever better vehicles and stronger teams - the sort of bunch whose idea of a holiday is camping in a Russian forest and having to solve puzzles like “weld this gearbox back together using only what you carried with you into the woods”.

We had some fun, learned a lot, and made a lot of friends.

Then after 2009 life, the universe and everything (and the bank manager) put a stop to racing and we all went our separate ways.

Then, in 2022, some idiot in Russia decided to attack Ukraine, a million people packed up and headed for the border, and Jez jumped in his truck and headed to where the need was greatest, pulling in an international web of friends, contacts, and favours to deliver aid and supplies in a war-zone in an £800 truck with no heater.

Of course, a team is a team so it's not long before the rest of us get involved to support Jez and those on the ground.

So here we are.