Dunlop Drivers Cup comes to Australia

The Dunlop Drivers Cup is coming to your area very soon. The 20 car convoy is bound to turn heads as it winds it way from one end of Australia to the other. Thirty German motoring enthusiasts, the finalists from a list of 14,000 applicants, are set to take part in the annual Dunlop Drivers Cup (DDC) beginning on February 16, 2002. The ten-day event will travel to many corners of the country and involves a number of demanding races.

The Dunlop Drivers Cup originated four years ago and in that time has travelled to numerous parts of the world.

In 2002, the DDC will start in Glenelg in Adelaide. The 4,000 kilometre driving adventure will then travel through the outback of Broken Hill, the rugged ranges of the Grampians National Park, then to Warrnambool and the Great Ocean Road and finally past Melbourne to the Blue Mountains and onto Sydney.

The organisers of the German event select a different country each year to hold the event in. Previous years have seen 30 competitors take to the streets of Patagonia in South America, the USA and South Africa, but in 2002 the DDC will be staged in our very backyard.

For the fourth consecutive year Dunlop was seeking drivers who had a combination of professional perfection driving training with motor sport features and the thrill of adventure. After a gruelling two-day selection process involving qualifying heats, motor sport driver training and off-road competitions, the final 30 were selected with seven of them women and 23 men.

Dunlop's idea behind this initiative is to awake interest among car drivers in safe driving and raise awareness of the effect of tyres on the driving performance.

"We are very excited to be a part of this innovation and would like to think that some day soon we will have an Australian version." Said Leisa Emberson of Dunlop Australia.

The drivers will have plenty of challenges throughout the event including off-road trials with Landcruisers, cross-country sections with quads and endurance trials. This isn't your everyday road-race...

Various car sections include driving performances such as cornering, slalom, bends and 'target braking'. The competitors will also take part in a special test in Formula Ford racing cars on the Eastern Creek Race Circuit just outside Sydney.

An event like the Dunlop Drivers Cup would be an ideal annual event for Australia - a local version, if you will. Depending on how well-received the German DDC is, it could more corporate interest and perhaps it could lead to something more concrete. The possibilities are almost endless - imagine a V8 Supercar style DDC, or perhaps a limited V6 tournament. When the parade arrives, give the drivers a wave and a toot when you see them cruising through your area in mid-February.