With the Touareg Eurasia Tour, Rainer Zietlow set his fourth long-distance world record together with his long-term team mate, photographer and cameraman Marius Biela, and the Russian journalist from Auto Mail.Ru, Petr Bakanov.
For this transcontinental journey from Magadan, the easternmost Russian city accessible by car, to Lisbon, the westernmost city in continental Europe, Zietlow chose the Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI once again.
The car was equipped with a rollover cage, additional fuel tanks, larger tires, and brighter headlights. The journey began in Magadan on July 1, 2016. The first 3,000 kilometers were the most difficult. This section of the trip is also known as the Road of Bones, a bumpy gravel road that is challenging for both man and machine and only passable in the right weather conditions.
The region around Moscow presented another challenge with heavy traffic and lots of road works. After crossing Russia in less than five days, the team passed through Belarus, Poland, Germany, France, and Spain.
After 6 days and 9 hours, having traveled 15,145 kilometers through eleven time zones, Rainer Zietlow and his fellow drivers finally reached Lisbon, Portugal's capital, on July 6.
Since 2005, Rainer Zietlow has supported the aid organization SOS Children’s Villages with most of his projects. This time, he visited a children's village near Minsk, Belarus, and donated 10 euro cents for every kilometer driven.
