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ECB Signs On As Naming Rights Sponsor For 2012 Australian SUV Challenge:
ECB has signed on as the naming rights sponsor for the all new Australian SUV Rally Challenge as part of the 2012 Bosch Australian Rally Championship. This series will be known as the ECB World’s Best Alloy Bullbars SUV Rally Challenge and will kick off at the opening round of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship, at Rally Calder in Melbourne on March 1st-4th this year. The ECB World’s Best Alloy Bullbars Australian SUV Rally Challenge will be the first rally series in the world open exclusively for Sport Utility Vehicles, the fastest growing sector in the car industry.
Currently one in four vehicles sold in Australia comes from the SUV sector and there are more than 50 vehicles in the Australian SUV market segment that will be eligible to compete in the ECB Australian SUV Rally Challenge. Australia will be the first country in the world to conduct a national rally series for Sport Utility Vehicles with new class will be open to all vehicles specified as Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) by industry statisticians VFACTS/RVCS, either in two wheel drive or four wheel drive form and be no more than 10 years old (plus model runons). The new EBC World’s Best Alloy Bullbars SUV Australian Rally Challenge will welcome turbo diesel or normally aspirated petrol vehicles and will give the SUV sector access to motor sport competition that is relevant and the perfect showcase for cars of this type. The rules have been formulated for the new SUV Rally Challenge to keep the cars close to standard with only minor wheel, tyre, brake, suspension and exhaust modifications allowed along with the mandatory safety equipment.
The ECB World’s Best Alloy Bullbars Australian SUV Rally Challenge is already attracting strong interest from both factory teams and leading privateers. This means the ECB Worlds Best Alloy Bullbars Australian SUV Rally Challenge will be a relatively economical way for manufacturers to become involved in rallying and to showcase their product in the heat of competition.
News:
Former Australian F2 Rally Champion, Brett Middleton has unveiled plans to contest the new ECB World's Best Bullbars Australian SUV Rally Challenge in a Subaru Forester turbo diesel.
Middleton is the first driver to publicly reveal details of a campaign to win the inaugural ECB SUV Rally Challenge and believes the diesel Subaru will be the car to beat in the all-new rally category.
The MRT Performance Subaru Forester Turbo-diesel is currently being prepared at the Sydney workshops of MRT Performance and is scheduled to be tested for the first time in early January, ahead of the opening round of the 2012 Bosch Australian Rally Championship, the ECB Rally Calder on March 1st-4th.
The Sydney based team will also use its Subaru Forester to raise awareness and funds for leading charity the McGrath Foundation.
Middleton believes the Subaru diesel SUV will be not only fast and competitive but spectacular and good to watch with a deep engine note from the turbocharged oil burner.
"On paper the Subaru will be the car to beat in terms of power to weight ratio and the pedigree of the chassis and we are very excited at pioneering the Forester in the ECB SUV Rally Challenge," said Brett Middleton.
"We know there are other teams close to committing to an assault on the ECB SUV Rally Challenge and I hope our announcement will act as a catalyst for them," he said.
"I am really excited by the SUV category because it will enable manufacturers to showcase one of the most popular classes of vehicle in the Australian market."
"At MRT Performance we have been tuning and enhancing an increasing number of SUVs for customers over the past couple of years so I know first hand the interest and potential in rallying SUVs.
"We will be using our involvement in the ECB SUV Rally Challenge to showcase MRT Performance's capability and ideas for tuning and improving road going SUVs," Middleton added.
CEO of the Bosch ARC, Scott Pedder has welcomed the announcement of MRT Performance's entry in the ECB Australian SUV Rally Challenge and believes it will be the first of a number of teams committing to the Challenge.
"It is really pleasing to have a team of the calibre and experience of MRT Performance and a former F2 Champion like Brett Middleton at the wheel of a turbo diesel Forester and it promises to be a really exciting prospect," said Scott Pedder.
"There are some interesting vehicles being considered for the ECB Australian SUV Rally Challenge and this will only bolster interest in the SUV category," he added.
Middleton will be partnered by long time co-driver Andrew Benefield in the ECB World's Best Bullbars Australian SUV Rally Challenge.
Foxtix Have Opened Ticket Sales For Rally Calder Presented By ECB
Tickets for motor sport's newest and most interesting event, the Rally Calder presented by East Coast Bullbars, are on sale offering rally fans the chance to see the heroes of Australian rallying up close and personal in the first stadium based round of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship on March 1-4.
Motor sport fans will be able to purchase tickets including exclusive grandstand seats through Foxtix from Wednesday December 14th to ensure their place at what will be rallying history with an event that is the future of the sport
Events:
Rally Calder – Round 1 of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship, 1st – 4th March 2012
Rally Calder presented by East Coast Bullbars offers rally fans the chance to see the heroes of Australian rallying up close and personal in the first stadium based round of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship in Melbourne on March 1-4.
The Bosch ARC competitors will cover more than 100km of competitive stages over the three days of competition embracing both gravel and tarmac stages with spectacular jumps and a range of challenging conditions including the formidable high banked Thunderdome oval. The entire event will be run within the boundaries of the Calder Park complex north west of Melbourne allowing spectators to catch all the action within a short walk of the car park.
Rally Calder offers competition from the first round of the 2012 CAMS Australian Tarmac Rally Championship as well as the first event of the Australian Side by Side Rally Challenge. Add this to a unique Online Car Forum battle that will feature Australia's hottest modified road cars, Drift Car Demonstrations, rallyschool.com.au Rally Hotlaps plus displays, kids zone and the like and you have a comprehensive line up of motor sport attractions.
Quit Forest Rally – Round 2 of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship, 30th March – 1st April 2012
Quit Forest Rally, the West Australian round of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship (ARC), will be held from March 30th to April 1st 2012. The second round of the six round ARC, the Quit Forest Rally is always a spectator and competitor favourite, based in WA’s No.1 holiday destination, Busselton and the picturesque inland town of Nannup.
Aside from the new vehicles in the ARC, the rally will once again see the Quit Forest Rally Moto competitors taking to the stages across the weekend riding motorbikes, quad bikes and for the first time side-by-side buggies.
“The introduction of the Quit Forest Rally Moto in 2010 added a whole new dimension to the rally and it wouldn’t be the same without them. In 2011 we had 17 competitors and we are hoping to almost double that to 30 in 2012,” Tapper said.
The Quit Forest Rally will also be the opening rounds of the Western Australian Rally Championship and the Western Australian Clubman Cup Series. With more than 200 cars and bikes expected to compete across the weekend the Quit Forest Rally is a motorsport extravaganza you don’t want to miss.
ECB promo:
As a partner of 2012 Rally Calder, presented by East Coast Bullbars and/or the 2012 BOSCH Australian Rally Championship, ECB would like to offer you an opportunity to see this unique motorsport event at a discounted rate.
Please go to Rally Calder section at www.foxtix.com.au and enter the following promotional code.
EASTCOAST
For all the information on Rally Calder, presented by East Coast Bullbars, Melbourne’s Festival of Speed please go to www.rally.com.au
Multimedia:
Click HERE for all ECB Rally related material
Links:
Rally Calder News
Australian Rally Championship
ARC NEWS
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