Jim Clark Rally Event Sponsorship & Advertising Opportunities
2013 EVENT
Introduction
Thank you for taking the time to read our Sponsorship, Entertainment, Advertising and Support document. It is intended to give a brief outline of the event and the opportunities the Jim Clark Rally can provide you and your business to enhance your profile at the same time as providing a most exhilarating experience to clients you may wish to bring along.
Should you need further information please do not hesitate to contact us as we are sure we can tailor a package that will suit your requirements.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. We will be delighted to hear from you.
Contact:
Rally Office, details on this page
The Event Base.
Based about an hour south of Edinburgh around the Scottish Borders Abbey town of Kelso the rally has found excellent HQ facilities at Kelso Racecourse.
The ceremonial parts of the rally take place in Berwickshire’s County Town of Duns, a place steeped in Scottish Motor Sport History.
The Rally Route
Rally Action
The competitive rally route is wholly contained within the home county of the late Jim Clark; Berwickshire an area of outstanding beauty in the Scottish Borders. The special stages are very spectacular and diverse with big jumps and water splashes as well as hairpins and fast stretches. The route takes in the hill and moorland roads to the north of the county as well as the twisting country lanes in the south; it includes the old favourites like Langton Mill watersplash and the infamous Swinton Mill crossroads. All of the route is within a 15 mile radius of Duns and is easily accessed.
In all there will be 150 miles of special stages which uniquely for the British mainland are held on closed public roads.
The Rally Shakedown
The Jim Clark is the first event in the British Championship calendar to be held on asphalt and prior to the competition competitors are given the opportunity to hone their skills on this new surface. The shakedown will be held over an especially closed public road not far from rally HQ.
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| The shakedown offers the opportunity for ‘sponsors rides’ which would offer enough time for a lunch and local tour prior to the start of the main rally. |
Langton Watersplash is always popular. Here the weekend footfall of around 5000 is supplied with commentary and exhibitions. |
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| A unique feature of the International Rally is the stage through the streets of Duns. Held immediately after the ceremonial start the cars thunder past Post Office Hairpin, past the Merkat Cross and past the Stuart Hotel at the Bridgend roundabout before disappearing out of town. |
Thousands crowd the Square and any other place they can. An ideal venue for corporate entertainment. Don’t stand too close!! |
WHO WILL COMPETE?
The International Rally, the headline event, will be joined by several other “national” rallies dipping in and out of the spectacular route. In all over the weekend up to 250 crews are expected to compete making the Jim Clark the biggest rally in the UK. The sporting action is broken down thus:
THE JIM CLARK INTERNATIONAL RALLY
Is open to all drivers and has over the years attracted drivers from Australia, Japan, the Arabic States and Africa as well as South and North America and of course the European Community and home nations. . The event is a counter of the:
THE BRITISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP which also includes:
Rallye Sunseeker: Bournemouth
Bulldog Rally: Welshpool
Pirelli Rally: Carlisle
Ulster Rally: Antrim
Rally Yorkshire: Scarborough
THE JIM CLARK NATIONAL RALLY
Attracting the serious ‘Club competitor’ this is a round of the The MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship.
The National Rally follows the most of the International route throughout Friday and Saturday.
THE JIM CLARK CHALLENGE RALLY
A feeder series of the British rally Championship this attracts the up and coming youngster in smaller but feisty cars finishing on Saturday afternoon.
THE JIM CLARK HISTORIC RALLY
Catering for around 50 Classic Rally cars from the British Historic Rally Championship on Friday and Saturday.
THE JIM CLARK REIVERS RALLY
The Jim Clark’ began its life as a Scottish Rally Championship counter and the Sunday is still about those competitors with routes based around Duns.
The organisers believe that they have the best of British rallying, boasting ‘the best of International and National British Championship, the Premier Irish series, as well as the best single make championships, and of course the fastest Scottish drivers.
The Audience
A recent economic impact study was undertaken by independent consultants T. L Dempster. It concluded that the event produced an annual local spend of £3.3m and had a total attendance of around 43,000. A full copy of the report is available from the organisers. The details listed below are from that study.
Spectators
It is estimated that around 25,000 people watch the event, either from the large spectating areas which have been created along the route or from the less accessible spots and sometimes even their own front garden.
Competitors.
The competitors attracted to the Jim Clark come from a full spectrum, from the professional/manufacturer team who may have up to 30 staff to the dedicated young lads who arrive, camp for the weekend and repair their own car from the boot of their dad’s vehicle. In all there will be around 250 competing crews with an average of 6 personnel in attendance making a total competitive participation in excess of 1500 people.
Officials and staff
In all it takes around 1000 officials to make the weekend happen many of which travel and stay in the area for the event. A camp site for 500 is available at Kelso over the weekend.
Television
Apart from news outlets and other magazine programmes several production companies are contracted to cover the event, Greenlight TV does so on behalf of the British Rally Championship. Their primary output is to Sky Sports which is accessed by over 15 million homes in the UK and reaches over 500 million homes worldwide. One of the more popular and accessible TV programmes appears on BBC Scotland providing a sizeable slot on the Jim Clark Rally. Indeed last year, the whole programme was based around the Jim Clark event. Reports of all viewing figures can be supplied on request.
Radio
The organisers operate a partner relationship with the local independent radio station, Radio Borders this provides local saturation coverage.
Awareness
The event organisers have been continually successful in delivering a strong awareness package through the written media. They have concluded deals for a supplement in national daily’s, have run competitions in both national and specialist publications and have secured considerable coverage in all forms of press.
Sponsorship and Advertising Opportunities
Title Sponsorship
The event currently seeks a title sponsor and is eager to negotiate with interested organisations. It is expected that such a package would include for the sponsor the addition of the organisations brand to the title of the event and mention in all correspondence, publication and branding. And that branding at all TV points would be included.
By negotiation the organisers would also make open all facilities mentioned in other sections of this document.
Cost: Offers over £25,000 per annum
Special Stage sponsorship
It is envisaged that special stage sponsors will receive attachment of their brand to all mention of the special stage [indeed it is possible for some stages to be singly branded with only the organisation or company’s name]. A single banner position will be made available at all known TV spots on that stage and for one single ‘standard banner in the start/finish area.
The organisers can also make provision for entertainment areas on that stage.
Cost: £2,000 – £10,000
Special Branding
The rally requires upwards of 1000 safety marshals each of which must be supplied with a brightly coloured waistcoat or bib. Advertising and branding space is available.
Cost: £by negotiation
Supplier Sponsorship
Organising a top Motorsport event requires innumerable items of equipment, some during the whole organisational period of the event and some for the event only. The organisers are very willing to discuss the supply of, among other things vehicles, photocopiers, printers stationary, marshals’ food and thank yous.
Cost: £by negotiation
Programme advertising
The organisers distribute 5000 copies of the event programme. Space is available in full, half, quarter and fifth pages. Costings:
Full Page £600
Half Page £350
Quarter Page £195
Fifth Page £120.
Entertainment Opportunities
GENERAL
Why not entertain your guests at the stage side, let them see some of the fastest drivers in the world, catch the thrills in Duns Town Centre or watch the cars bounce over the Swinton crossroads all from your own marked off private area. The Jim Clark offers easy access to the action, unlike any other rally in the UK.
TAILOR-MADE PACKAGES
The Rally would be happy to sit down and create a tailor-made package for those sponsors who are looking for something a little different depending upon the level of sponsorship being talked about.
MEDIA
THE EVENT PRESS TEAM
Prior to the event, driver interviews, competitions for entry tickets and VIP rides in Rally Cars will be used to encourage editorial and news coverage.
TELEVISION
As a round of the British Rally Championship the event will be covered by Greenlight TV for a dedicated programme shown on Sky Sports. Last year a dedicated programme appeared on BBC Scotland.
The BRC coverage alone has an audience of 500 million homes worldwide.
The current TV package provides for event editing for provision to local news programming.
RADIO
The organisers have commenced negotiations with a local radio station to supply ‘rally radio’ throughout the event.
PRINT MEDIA
Our dedicated media team will develop a package of news stories, features and lifestyle reports for distribution to the national, regional and local media. Local newspapers from around the country are supplied with previews of the event and ‘their’ local drivers profile.
All event reports will include mention of the title sponsor.
SPECIALIST PRESS
Motorsport News, PaceNotes, Autosport and Carsport will be supplied with an event guide and drivers form guide, post event reports and news stories.
WHO COVERS THE EVENT?
It is usual for there to be over 100 accredited media personnel at the event. As well as the TV figures appendix to this document clippings are available from most of the national broadsheet and tabloid newspapers published in the UK and in Ireland.
The event media team is supported by the permanent offices of the British Rally Championship.
WEBSITE
All main and stage sponsors will appear on our website and links created for those that so wish.
To date this year the website has had over 195,000 hits.
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
The Jim Clark Rally was inaugurated in memory of Jim Clark, the Formula 1 World Motor Racing Champion, who was tragically killed in an accident at Hockenheim in 1968. The rally was first held in 1970 and has been held each year since.
From its inception until 1996 the competitive portion of the event was, like most other events in the UK, held over forest roads. While the organisers produced fine events receiving many accolades and awards, the rally was just one amongst many similar ones.
It had long been a dream of British mainland rallying to use closed public roads – a concept which, while widely practised in other countries and in more remote parts of the UK, was not possible under our strict road traffic laws. In 1997 the organising motor clubs were successful in persuading the 22 local councils of Berwickshire, the council of Berwickshire itself, Scottish Borders Council and the Westminster Parliament to pass an Order allowing the Jim Clark to use the county’s roads, closed from public use.
The Order, described by the motoring press as ‘the best news for rallying’, has been
used annually since 1997. The rally is permitted to close public tarmac roads for three consecutive days once per year, normally doing so in May. The Jim Clark Rally has become an important part of the county calendar and is looked forward to by the whole population.
Since the move from forestry to closed roads, the event has gone from strength to strength. It is without doubt the country’s most popular event for competitors and apart from the Rally GB, Britain’s World Championship rally, it attracts the greatest number of spectators in the United Kingdom. The nature of the terrain offers easy and regular access to spectacular rally action spots.
The rally was invited to become a round of the international British Rally Championship in 1999 and has attracted ever-increasing entry fields since. The Jim Clark Rally is also attended by the leading British National and Scottish championships. In all, last year 300 crews took part in the event.
The modern Jim Clark Rally is not so much a single rally as an event with International, National and Scottish sections. With reconnaissance permitted for up to a week before the rally and many of the competitors, officials, marshals and spectators making the event a central part of their annual holiday, there is an exciting party atmosphere which builds up around the area – an atmosphere unique to the Jim Clark.
THE ORGANISERS
General
The Jim Clark Rally Limited is a company owned by the organisers; Berwick and District Motor Club Limited and Border Ecosse Car Club Limited. Most of the members of these clubs live and work in the area where the rally takes place.
The Organisation
The rally is organised by a team of around 25, all of whom are experienced rallyists who all bring individual skills
Chairman
The chairman of the organising committee is Dr Bob Pawson. Now retired from general practice Bob has been involved with Motorsport for more years than he is prepared to divulge. On the day Dr Bob serves as the event’s chief MO.
Financial Controller
The rally’s finances are looked after by Ronnie Nichol a retired senior bank official.
Route co-ordinator
Route planning is made by Russel Blood. He is a regular Scottish Rally Championship co-driver and has been with the organisation since 1982. Russel is a partner of a print and design company.
Media team
Our media management and publications are handled by Grahame MacGregor. A regular competitor during the 80’s, Grahame now restricts much of his rallying activities to talking and writing about the sport. He is a journalist with BBC Scotland and a freelance writer.
Contact Details:
Jim Clark Rally
3 Fenton Grange, Wooler, Northumberland, NE71 6AW
Tel/Fax 01668 283023
www.jimclarkrally.com
THE JIM CLARK RALLY
The Jim Clark Rally is a unique event held under a special Parliamentary Act to close public roads for the purposes of holding a special stage rally. The event, first held in this form in 1977, has increased in popularity, size and stature becoming a major part of the International and National motorsporting scene.
The event is now a three day festival with several ‘rallies’ within its programme. Over the weekend there will be around 250 competing cars with their drivers and crews, almost 1,000 marshals and up to 25,000 spectators.
Running the event requires closing the public roads and necessarily blocking in the residents en-route. Livestock needs to be moved, protective bale and sandbag castles need to be built around susceptible property and the public need to be made aware of the dangers. And after the event there are often roadside repairs to be done. In all this is taken in good stead with the people of Berwickshire who have very much taken ownership of ‘their’ Jim Clark Rally.
The premier rally held over the weekend is the International Rally, this takes place over the whole weekend. Competitors on this event often come from all over the World with around 50% from overseas. Running alongside the International are a number of other events of varying grades and sizes. On Sunday, the Jim Clark Reivers Rally is held, this is entirely run from Duns – the traditional home for the event.
The event receives considerable media coverage both prior to and after the rally. Our own media team have, over the years, been successful in creating pre-event news and magazine items in and on all forms of media. At least three of the events taking place over the weekend have contracted terrestrial and/or satellite TV contracts. The event also has a radio station partner.
The Jim Clark is a truly major sporting event which more than any other benefits the local community giving it a huge economic boost each year It relies upon the assistance of sponsors advertisers and supporters.
