These interesting tidbits are from the first (proper) year of the Mongol Rally, 2005. Yes, they are all true.

• 43 cars left London.
• 27 cars reached Mongolia.
• 14 cars reached the finish in Ulan Bator.
• 2 teams were robbed at knife point.
• 1 car snapped in half.
• 3 engines fell completely out of the cars.
• 1 team was held for five days in no-mans land.
• 1 team cycled almost 100 miles to get to the finish when their car gave in.
• 100’s of tires were blown.
• 1 team got engaged.
• 3 teams attended weddings.
• 1 team found a 10 foot deep pot hole.
• 1 team found a 25 ton crane rolled by a pot hole.
• 1 team had to reverse up a mountain after losing all but one forward gear.
• 1 person spent 24 hours in a Kazakh jail charged with five crimes against the state.
• 1 person was stoned by a Mongolian nomad, who then shot at him with a gun (and missed).
• 1 team was rammed off the road after an argument over water melons.
• 1 person spent a day in a Turkish hospital.
• 3 people were banned from Turkmenistan for a year.
• As a result of an incident with a cow, one person was detained by police in Azerbaijan and threatened with a beating from a dwarf.
• 2 cars flipped over in Mongolia.
• 3 teams were chased by armed bandits.
• 0 team members died.