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FORD BRINGS WORLD-CLASS ACTION TO THE CITIES
BRENTWOOD , Essex , 27 July, 2005 - Ford, one of the biggest names in motor sport, is taking its stars and cars on the road and staging a series of spectacular events in cities across mainland Britain this summer.
The Ford Rally Experience will see live action performances from Ford's top-line motor sport stars of the past and present, together with stunt driving Ford Fiestas and a chance for members of the audience to take part themselves. All this will take place in a travelling arena that will be set up like the stage for a major rock concert – only admittance will be free.
“This is an all-action show that promises to bring real excitement to young and old alike,” said Paul Thomas, managing director, Ford of Britain. “We're sure that the arena displays will be enormously entertaining, and opening up these fabulous city centre venues to the full flavour of our sport was an unmissable opportunity.
“Ford's reputation in top-level motor sport is unmatched, and it is founded upon cars like the Focus RS WRC that are closely related to our roadgoing product. These cars are spectacular and built to perform on snow, gravel and asphalt in some of the world's toughest events but they are road-legal and share the same DNA as the cars that many of those coming to see the Ford Rally Experience will drive every day.”
Starting off on the south coast, the first Ford Rally Experience will take place in Southampton on July 30-31 before taking the high road to Glasgow on August 20-21. Newcastle plays host to the third event on September 3-4 as a prelude to the Cardiff-based Rally GB, the UK 's round of the FIA World Rally Championship, where Ford's live show will take place on the weekend of September 10-11.
The Ford Rally Experience will be headlined by the appearance of the awesome turbo-charged four-wheel-drive Focus RS World Rally Cars, as driven in the FIA World Rally Championship by Finnish ace Toni Gardemeister and Czech young gun Roman Kresta. These 300bhp supercars are currently continuing Ford's proud record of achievement at the top of the FIA World Rally Championship, with Gardemeister currently third in the 2005 drivers' championship and Ford also third in the manufacturers' league.
Ford's rally heritage will also come to life, led by the legendary Escort Mk1 that gathered a multitude of WRC victories as well as dominating such gruelling marathons as the London-Sydney and London-Mexico rallies. The charismatic 1970s icon will be joined by the mighty mid-engined Ford RS200 from the Group B era of the 1980s and a 1990s Ford Escort Cosworth.
As well as the live action in the arena, Ford will be bringing the full motor sport atmosphere to the Rally Experience, with plenty of other attractions for visitors to enjoy. These include an interactive display from BP Ultimate, the new generation of performance fuels from BP, a static display including some of Ford's most famous race and rally cars, a sneak preview of the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship contender (based on the highly-acclaimed new Focus), the chance to see the new high-performance Focus ST road car, and a full-size computer simulator to ‘drive' the Focus RS WRC.
For further information and images please contact Nick Garton on 01483 441016 or ngarton@prismteam.com