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| Date:2006-08-05 Read:
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Hyundai Sponsors Rally Amsterdam-Beijing |
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20 Tucsons, Terracans and Santa Fes in an all-out endurance test
(Seoul, Korea) ) A transcontinental classic car rally from Amsterdam to Beijing is being sponsored by Greenib Car, Hyundai`s distributor for the Netherlands which is supplying twenty units of the Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai Tucson and Hyundai Terracan as support vehicles.
About 100 classic cars are participating in the Classic Endurance Rally Amsterdam-Beijing, an all-out endurance test of as much as 17.650 kilometres. The Rally started on July 15th at Dam Square, in the centre of Amsterdam, and will finish on August 11th at Tiananmen Square in the capital of China, Beijing. The participants are halfway now and will soon enter China.
Twenty Hyundai support vehicles are being used by the organisation of the rally to escort the more than 100 participants in their classic cars which by regulation must be at least 30 years old to qualify. The Hyundai`s, all 4WD vehicles, are equipped with a Track & Trace system. Some are being used as fully equipped mobile workshops, some cars function as emergency service. And some cars are being used by the press people.
All cars participating in the Rally are older than 30 years and that means a heavy responsibility for the organisation team that, fortunately, is using new Hyundai`s for transportation. Greenib Car Managing Director Geert Vermeer is happy with Hyundai`s participation: "I am very glad that Hyundai is our partner during this rally. Hyundai is one of the best car manufacturers in the world. In the recent J.D. Power quality investigation in the USA Hyundai was third, just behind Porsche and Lexus. And this achievement is proving the quality and reliability of Hyundai cars. Until now the cars are doing a great job. Many of the classic cars, although they have been prepared for this rally, had to be repaired. While the Hyundai&aucte;s, that are coming straight out of the showroom, are performing very well.
The participants are half way now. They started in the Netherlands, crossed Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgary and Turkey. After that they went through countries like Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The day before yesterday the convoy passed Kazakhstan before reaching the borders of China. From the borders they have to drive another 6.000 kilometres to Beijing.
"The route of the rally is quite spectacular" according to Vermeer. "We are driving a big part of the so-called classic Silk route, the centuries-old commercial route between Europe and Asia. For the participating teams the rally is a childhood dream that is coming true".
The participants are making 10 to 12 hour days in their cars. The heat (sometimes even reaching 40 degrees Celsius outside the cars), the demanding roads and lack of sleep are the most important opponents for the convoy. On the other hand, everywhere they come, the very friendly inhabitants are cheering and waving to the participants.
For more information have a look at: www.abr2006.nl. Rally news is broadcast daily around 20:00 on RTL7 in the Netherlands and is receiving daily coverage by national broadcaster CCTV5 in China.
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