7 October 2002: A British rally team headed off at the weekend to drive 4,000 miles from London to Athens on the World Cup Rally. In a Smart car!

The rally will take Emma Saxby and Miles Moorhouse through 12 countries in 12 days. The route includes Croatia, Bosnia and Albania where teams have been warned to look out for stray bulls and carts and roads torn up by tank tracks.

Emma Saxby, who decided to take the Smart car over more traditional cars for the extra challenge, said she thought it would be a great opportunity to put the Smart through its paces ‘on some of the worst roads in Europe’.

The rally car is a right-hand drive Smart city-coupe Pulse and features a lightweight SUPREX three cylinder 599 cc turbo engine with a power output of 61bhp. All the rally cars have to be showroom standard except for safety modifications like roll cages and safety harnesses.

Emma and Miles both work for Smart, and prepared the car in their spare time at the smart service centre in Brentford.