A sprightly pensioner has entered the record books as the world’s oldest rally navigator – after guiding her son on a 6,000 mile trek at the age of 97.
Dorothy Caldwell was in the passenger seat of a 1965 Rolls-Royce for the 22-day marathon across Canada and the USA.
She was helping son Alastair for the trip having been involved in endurance rallies since 2011.
The adventure took place last year, with Dorothy’s epic achievement now officially recognised by the Guinness World Records.
Dorothy, now 98, has spent most of her life in New Zealand but now lives in Worksop, Notts., near her son, who ran the McLaren F1 team in the 1970s.
She said: “Since I can remember all my family was into racing, including my brother and then both of my sons.
“They thought it was great fun and really enjoyed the family time when they were little.
“Rallying can be very competitive, however, we always come first in our class and I’m happy to say I really enjoy navigating.”
The Endurance Rally Association’s Trans-America Challenge started on Canada’s East Coast in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and ended on the West Coast of the USA in San Francisco, California.
They stopped off in 19 different places during the marathon drive including Buffalo in
New York, Bay City in Michigan and Reno in Nevada, as well as visiting sites such as Mount Rushmore.
Alastair, who runs self-storage company Space Station, added: “We work very well as a team and we’ve never had a cross word during rallying.”
Despite her age, Dorothy has no plans on slowing down and is looking forward to taking part in more rallies as a navigator in the future.
Find more about the trip here: http://www.space-station.co.uk/BlogRetrieve.aspx?PostID=708810&A=SearchResult&Search
