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Mystery Box Rally rolls through Broken Hill

Tony Jacklin and Todd Small’s Team Big Boys’ rally car sits under the Silverton sign. It will drive along an unknown route today in Port Lincoln.

Rally cars rolled through Broken Hill this week on their way to the Mystery Box Rally in Port Lincoln.

After three years of delays due to COVID-19 restrictions the Rally kicks off in Port Lincoln today.

This Rally is the tenth Mystery Box Rally, and teams drive their own 25-year-old or over cars along an unknown route in this five-day challenge to raise support for cancer research.

“We both lost parents to cancer, and that’s why we do this,” Berserkers team competitor Brett Wilbe said.

The event’s camaraderie was displayed when the Big Boys team, Tony Jacklin and Todd Small, struggled to find accommodation in Broken Hill.

They put a call out for help to any other Rally teams in the area.

Mr Wilbe and Jo Robinson from the Beserkers’ team came to the rescue and offered them a shared campsite.

The Rally is about helping each other along the way to “get there together”, both teams said.

To enter the Rally, each team must have two participants that have raised a minimum of $4,000 for the Cancer Council and pay their catering, accommodation and petrol costs and the $725 team registration fee.

“By paying our own way, we know every cent we raise through donations isn’t lost on administration fees but goes directly to cancer research,” Mr Wilbe said.

The Berserkers’ team have raised over $7000, and the Big Boys have raised over $10,000 for the Cancer Council.

The Mystery Box Rally organisers helped provide the teams with fundraising tips.

“Most of the teams have had someone affected by cancer, and that’s one of the main reasons we enter,” Big Boys’ team competitor Mr Jacklin said.

Tony Jacklin and Todd Small grew up together on the NSW Central Coast before Mr Jacklin moved to Cobar.

This Rally is their way of catching up with each other.

Brett Wilbe and Jo Robinson were also formerly of the NSW Central Coast before moving north of Coffs Harbour.

The only information the drivers knew before the rally was that the route is a loop that starts and finishes in Port Lincoln and will take five days to complete.

All other details about the course were kept under wraps.

Each morning of the Rally, the teams receive details and maps to that day’s destination.

The teams will travel between 500 and 700 kilometres daily to their destination.

If the car dies, they must leave it behind, and it’s up to you to retrieve it after the rally.

“There’s a buddy system of cars travelling together, and we all help each other get to the night’s destination safely,” Mr Small said.

Mr Small explained that a mechanic and first aid equipment travel with each group of cars.

Prizes are awarded at the end of the Rally and are judged on factors like fundraising, rally spirit, and how hopeless their car was.

The Mystery Box Rallies have donated $30,964,629 to the Cancer Council to date.

This year’s rally has raised $1,131,996, and they will continue to welcome donations during the Rally.

To donate to the Cancer Council via these teams, visit the Mystery Box Rally website at www.mysteryboxrally.com.au

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