THEY made it! Three Teignbridge men have finished the Mongol Rally, a crazy, dusty trip around half the world.

James Smith, Richard Matthews and Mitchell Hockin – all in their 20s – travelled more than 12,000 miles in a scrap car across more than 25 countries from London to Mongolia.

Around 300 teams started. Sometimes The Top Hats – the name they gave themselves – drove alone, sometimes they were part of a convoy.

The trip took them seven weeks without back-up.

They were one of the last teams to arrive. ‘But this particular rally is not about winning, it’s just about fun,’ Mitchell said.

Mitchell is already back as he took a flight from Moscow, but James and Richard are still on their way home.

‘We are extremely pleased to say we have reached the finish line in Ulan-Ude,’ Mitchell said.

They have been quite lucky. They had no breakdowns with their white Nissan Micra, only one stop at a garage for some new shock absorbers.

‘We drove on some of the most ridiculous roads in the world’, Mitchell reported.

There were no bigger challenges for the Teignbridge rally men. ‘We had no reason to worry or to be scared. People in every country were really nice to us. We made many new friends’.

Police stopped the Top Hats ‘countless times’, Mitchell said. ‘But only because they were interested and wanted to have a little chat with us,’

The lads enjoyed the views above wonderful valleys, took baths in lakes and climbed to the top of bedraggled buildings constructed in Soviet times.

‘It was a big adventure. I would not hesitate to do it again’ Mitchell said.

He described Mongolia as ‘basically one big beautiful nothing’.

Asked about the most ridiculous place they crossed, he said. ‘I guess that was Turkmenistan. A dictator built a massive park in the middle of nowhere. We were the only people in that park. They have streets with 12 lanes, but you hardly spot a car’.

The race might have been fun but the Top Hats were on a important mission as well.

They wanted to raise £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. ‘We nearly reached our target’, the lads said on Facebook.

They also wrote: ‘A massive thank you goes out to all of our sponsors for helping us raise the money. Thanks a lot Galliford Try, Centristic, The Jolly Farmer, Monnington Motors, Supersaturated, Grey Cars, Reggaskas and RDS.’

For more pictures and video, search on Facebook for Top Hat Explorers.