HE’S been part of a double World Championship winning F1 team but Renault technician Mark Owen says the task of driving an 86-year-old car through some of the world’s most hostile terrain will be an even greater challenge.

The 53-year-old is gearing up to take a 1924 Delage tourer through the Sahara desert on a 6,000-mile fundraising adventure across western Africa in which his vintage motor will battle temperatures topping 40°C.

At the F1 team’s HQ in Enstone, West Oxfordshire, the research and development officer is used to working with state-of-the-art aerodynamic technology on race cars that top more than 200mph. However, Mr Owen’s French motor has a maximum speed of 70mph and he estimates it will take six weeks and cost £1,000 in fuel to complete the epic journey.

Mr Owen hopes the trip will raise £4,000 for the Sabre Charitable Trust, which helps to provide schooling for children in Ghana.

The trip will see the father-of-one and his wife Sue, 46, from Longworth near Kingston Bagpuize, travel through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso to Ghana.

He will also have to drive though France and Spain and take the ferry to Morocco just to get to the start line.

Mr Owen said: “It’s very challenging driving a vintage car.

“You can’t relax for a second because of the nature of the steering, the gearbox and because the brakes aren’t up to the standards of a modern motor car.

“You have to be very, very alert. If anything it’s more a challenge doing this than working for an F1 team because it’s just me doing the mechanical side of it and that’s a large responsibility.

“In an F1 team you have so many people sharing the responsibility and a library of knowledge working on the car whereas I have limited resources and the responsibility for the car’s progress during the trip.”

As a Renault worker for eight years, Mr Owen got used to tasting victory as Fernando Alonso raced to two world titles in 2005 and 2006.

And he is confident his 2.1-litre, four-seater topless tourer will last the course of his African adventure. But he will be taking a spare ignition coil, distributor caps, spark plugs and leads just in case.

He said: “It’s a fair old age for a car to survive and 40 per cent of the trip will be off-road so we don’t really know how difficult it will be.

“I’m confident the technology will hold up but the heat and dust will cause extra problems for the car.”

To minimise the problems Mr Owen has fitted special air filters to the engine and installed an electric fan to keep the car cool.

However, before he sets off Mr Owen desperately needs someone to manufacture two new splined hubs to help power the historic car before it sets off.

Anyone who could build the splined hubs for the car should contact markowen. mo@gmail.com To donate money to Mr Owen’s trip go to virginmoneygiving.com/delage2africa To read Mr Owen’s trip of the blog go to: delage2africa @blogspot.com