The Blue Mosque in Istanbul played host to a successful Guinness World Record attempt this week, in which 274 MINI Baby Racers lined up to become the longest convoy of children's cars ever recorded.

These MINI Baby Racers are part of a 350-strong unit that are being transported along the Allgau-Orient Rally route; and are set to do more than just break records. During the event, these mini-MINIs will be donated to toddlers of disadvantaged families throughout Jordan. Each rally team has been given one of these MINI Baby Racers to transport and despite many cash offers for the cars each one made it to the destination in Istanbul.

At the end of the event, all participating rally cars are auctioned off to raise money for charitable organisations. This is the first year that MINI has participated in the Allgau-Orient Rally; and the MINI Cooper driven by the rally organisers has already been earmarked to go to a mobile midwife service thanks to Jordanian Princess Basmah Bani Ahmad.

In addition to auctioning the cars, participating teams also undertake various fundraising and humanitarian activities along the way; with some using the event itself to gain publicity for their own charities.

Now that the record attempt in Istanbul has been accomplished the teams head for their next stopover in Ankara. From there the convoy will drive to the Iskenderun port at the south of Turkey where it will be ferried across to Haifa, Israel. The finishing line is near Aqaba in the Jordanian desert on 17th May.

The status of the rally can be followed online; while the event organisers' MINI Cooper can be tracked via this link.

James Giddings - 8 May 2013