The WRC's commercial rights owner, International Sportsworld Communicators (ISC), is offering the public the chance to co-drive part of the circuit used for November's Network Q Rally of Great Britain and to win a high-performance Mitsubishi production car.
ISC has enlisted the support of the WRC's UK broadcast partner, Channel 4, to promote the competition in its Driven motoring programme and in separate ad spots which use the strapline 'Win the Rally, Keep the Car'.
Other WRC commercial partners, including Mitsubishi, Chrysalis, PlayStation and Marketing's owner Haymarket Publishing, will be participating. Ads will appear in titles such as FHM, Loaded, Autosport and The Sunday Times.
The media value is estimated to be around £4m.
The promotion, WRC Rally Trial, calls for entrants through a web, TV and press campaign. Consumers then attempt to navigate a rally route on the internet or on a map that accompanies a video mail pack.
Twenty-four finalists will then be selected at random to undertake a series of challenges culminating in a co-drive of a high-powered Mitsubishi car on the Network Q rally course. The overall winner will receive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII, one of the fastest production cars on the market.
ISC hopes the promotion, created by brand communication agency 23Red, will cash in on WRC's growing popularity, which has seen TV viewing figures rocket 21% since last year.
In the UK, WRC now rivals Formula One in terms of numbers of viewers, with F1 suffering from claims that the dominance of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari has made the sport monotonous.
"As F1 becomes more and more predictable, consumers are looking for an alternative high-octane sport," said Simon Miles, marketing director for WRC.
Rallying's international stars include the UK's Colin McRae, who still has an outside chance of winning this year's world title as the season enters its closing stages.
Digital production company Push worked with 23Red on the promotion's online implementation.
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
