Sponsorship for a UK entrant a World Rally Championship event

I am looking for sponsorship to compete in Wales Rally GB 2011 - one of the largest spectator events in the UK, which takes place in November 2011. Unlike many other competitors in 4WD Subarus and Mitsubishis, we will be tackling the event in my home-built Skoda Felicia, giving us a unique appearance at the event, and a large amount of media interest compared to the expense of sponsoring a 'normal' entrant (whose tyre bill will be more than our entire event cost in many cases). Sponsorship is tax deductible, and an excellent way to reach hundreds of thousands of people on one of the UK's Premiere sporting events. Please read on to learn about the car, the team and the different levels of sponsorship we offer - we have something for all budgets, from £15 upwards!

Sponsorship:
Being an unusual car at World level, the Felicia generates a lot of interest, from the crowd, marshals and media alike. The 2006 entry included a 4-page article in Rally Results magazine, while the 2007 entry also resulted in extensive coverage in the Motorsports News supplement for the event, showing the vast difference in cost between the Skoda (originally bought for £40) and the Ford WRC team (where a single nut cost the same). 2008 saw the crew appreciated on the stages by the large crowds, with only Valentino Rossi being more popular, and several thousand hits per day of the team's frequently-updated blog of the event (cited by Motorsports News as "better than most manufacturers' efforts"), bringing the fans closer to the action than ever before, while 2010's entry included a minute of coverage in the BBC's one-hour special on the event. This year's blog will reflect the changes in technology allowing instant stage-by-stage updates as well as a day's summary as has been previously read by thousands of rally spectators

Benefits:
While everyone knows that times are tough financially at present, spectating at motorsports events is still extremely popular, and Rally GB is the largest rally event in the country - this allied to the crew's huge popularity (both because of the unusual car choice and the grass-roots nature of the team) creates a unique opportunity to publicise your company at World Rally Championship level for less than the tyre budget of a 4WD team. For that amount you could be the sponsor for the entire vehicle, allowing an extremely clear message to be shown to the 100,000+ crowd for the event, a great many of whom will be following the team with interest. Aside from the profile generated by being associated with this fast-paced action-packed sport, you will benefit from close ties with the team with regular updates on progress before and during the event, with your company advertised on the website until the end of 2011 (with areas proportional to the area on the car). We offer areas to suit businesses of all budgets, as can be seen in the table at the bottom of the page. After the event you will receive a complete results package outlining the team's performance on the event, with photographs of the car in action with your livery on display.

The Car: R477 KRU
Group A-specification 1997 Skoda Felicia:
Weld-in Custom Cages International Rollcage
Gripper Limited Slip Differential
Close Ratio Gearbox
Group A "mini-kit" spec engine
Proflex Suspension
Uprated Brakes

The Skoda Felicia was a successful rally car in the F2 category, with many wins in its class, and Skoda hold the overall class wins record on Rally GB, with 24 including a 2006 Class A5 win by myself (Darren Jones)/Paul Burley in their previous Felicia, N158 UBD, and in 2008 by the same crew in R477 KRU. The car was built by Darren Jones in 2007, and has been upgraded considerably since 2008 with the addition of a new gearbox and differential, new suspension and a new engine offering considerably more performance.

The team:
Darren Jones - a Bournemouth-based Sound Engineer and Music Technology teacher, whose love of rallying started aged 16 watching the Mazda Winter Rally in Bournemouth. A first rally car (another Skoda) in 2004 led to an entry in 2005 in the Rallye Sunseeker, and has culminated in entering Wales Rally GB (the UK's leg of the World Rally Championship) in 2006-08. A class win was the result in 2006 in their previous Felicia, but a freak mechanical failure with the new car in 2007 put the team out of the event while leading their class again. 2008 was another strong performance with a class win, beating a crew in a faster car in another class as well.
Brynmor Pierce - Rhosesmor, NE-Wales-based Brynmor has been rallying for many years and is this year joining Darren in the Skoda to compete in his first Wales Rally GB, having driven and navigated in many events this is his first entry in his home WRC event.
Sponsorship Areas Available on the car

If you have any questions, please PM or email me - [email:1kojjak1]darren@skodarallyblog.com[/email:1kojjak1]

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