Racing team keen to promote Northern Cyprus at 20112.
A £350,000 rally car with a champion driver at the wheel is to carry message Visit Northern Cyprus during a major UK sporting event next year.
The hand-built Hyundai WRC will be entered into Rally Sunseeker , the opening round of the British Rally Championship, which is the expected to draw a global audience of about half a billion viewers when it takes place in the Bournemouth and Poole areas of Dorset, UK in May next year,
At the wheel will be British rally champion Marcus Dodd, a multiple winner of the event , with Brian Hardie, of Karaman, in the co-driver’s seat.
Catalkoy Serkan Cosar made history in this year’s Rallye Sunseeker by driving the North Cyprus car and becoming the first Turkish Cypriot to represent his country in a major international sporting event.
He is not expected to take part next year, however.
“Serkan did a wonderful job in driving us into seventh overall, and fourth in class.
“But he is certainly more comfortable with rally conditions in North Cyprus rather than he is in the mud and rain of Britain,” said Mr Hardie, his co-driver in last month’s Rallye Sunseekers.
Mt Dodd, who took first place overall in this year’s event, has offered to drive his own bespoke Huyundai Accet WRC-complete with tourism-boosting visit Northern Cyprus stickers-in partnership with Mr Hardie next year.
“If we can win the Rallye Sunseeker event again next year it will be an even bigger boost for tourism in the Northern Cyprus.
Mr Dodd donated his Rallye Sunseeker 2011 prize, a one-week holiday in Northern Cyprus worth £1,500 , including air fares, to a charity raffle.
The free break at the Malpas Hotel was won by Chrissis Chorley and Annie Roden.
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