Joy all set for American Adventure

Buy photos » Joy Rainey hopes to raise £20,000 for Cancer Research UK when she travels almost 3,000 miles across America next year in memory of her late husband. (s)

A MOTORCAR enthusiast is set to turn back the clock to embark on a gruelling 3,000 mile journey across America and raise plenty for charity.

Joy Rainey, who lives in Wickhamford, will travel across the States with her team of helpers in April next year in her 109-year-old Oldsmobile car in memory of her late husband Trevor Hulks who passed away in 2010. She hopes to raise £20,000 for Cancer Research UK.

The 2,826 mile journey will provide Australian born Joy with a difficult challenge as she will encounter an array of different conditions including 6,500 foot high mountains and blistering hot deserts along the way.

During her lifetime, Joy has enjoyed a varied motor sport career and competed in speed hill climbing, circuit racing and long distance rallying - following in her dad's footsteps who was racing driver Murray Rainey.

Joy will start the gruelling challenge on April 14 next year when she will leave Los Angeles to drive coast to coast across the country before finishing at Daytona Beach less than a month later.

"A few months after Trevor's untimely death I was contacted by Gary Hoonsbeen of the CDO Club in the USA who gently suggested that at some time in the future I might consider undertaking the trip myself as a tribute to Trevor," she said.

"But in my heart then I did not think that I could take on such a challenging trip without my soul mate. Losing him was difficult but I hope going on this trip will raise as much money as possible.

"But now after considerable, soul searching and encouragement from old and new friends I have decided that this challenge feels like unfinished business."

In preparation for the challenge, Joy will once again take part in the world's oldest motoring event - the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run in November in her Oldsmobile.

The event will feature will see more than 500 pre-1905 vehicles make their way from London's Hyde Park to Madeira Drive located in the south coast city.

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