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For immediate release
PERODUA KELISA JOINS THE WORLD CUP RALLY
WITH DISTRICT NURSE AT THE WHEEL
When the World Cup Rally sets
off from
Blenheim
Palace
on 5 October the Perodua Kelisa will be among the cars facing a gruelling
journey through 12 countries in 12 days. The car has been entered by David
Johnson of Bridge Garage in
Hemel Hempstead
, the Perodua dealership for Hertfordshire, and Perodua are certain the Kelisa
will pose a serious challenge to the other cars in the 1 litre class. The Kelisa
will be driven by David’s sister, district nurse Karen Young, and navigated by
their father Bob Johnson who last year guided a car into third place.
“Perodua
UK
is
extremely excited that Bridge Garage has chosen the Kelisa to compete in the
World Cup Rally. We already know the Kelisa is a tough contender in the
UK
market place and we are sure this will be proved on the world stage,” says
Tim Slaughter, Perodua
UK
’s Managing Director.
The route will include
France
,
Austria
,
Croatia
,
Yugoslavia
and
Greece
and the Rally will be the first international motor sport event to visit
Albania
. The Rally is open to any standard production car but as much of the driving
will take place in remote areas some changes are allowed to prepare for the
challenging terrain. David Johnson has upgraded the suspension, added full
harness seatbelts and fitted underbody protection to protect the Kelisa from
mountain roads, as well as removing the rear seats to provide room for spares
and safety equipment.
“I chose to enter the Perodua Kelisa
because it’s very powerful for a 1 litre engine. When I drove the car through
Malaysia
last year I was impressed by its speed and reliability over long distances,” says
David Johnson, owner of Bridge Garage.
Driver Karen hasn’t rallied
for 20 years apart from a few club road rallies three or four years ago, but she
relishes the challenge of this 4400 km journey. She has prepared for the Rally
by working out with a personal trainer to improve her upper body strength and
endurance levels.
“My job as a district nurse means I’m
used to bombing around in small cars and when the gauntlet was thrown down I
decided I had to be in the rally,” says
Karen Young, driver of the Kelisa.
The team hopes to raise money
for the charity Diabetic Children of Dorset, which acts as a support group for
families of children who suffer from diabetes, and Karen will be publicising
their effort on Wessex FM radio. Several of Karen’s friends are also district
nurses and to show their support a group of them will be at
Blenheim
Palace
to wave her off on the 5th.
-ends-
September 27, 2002
For further information or pictures contact Sophie Stephenson at Perodua UK
Limited, Craigmore House, Remenham Hill,
Henley-on-Thames
,
Oxon
,
RG9 3EP
. Tel: 01491 415230, fax: 01491 415233 or
e-mail: sstephenson@emhplc.com
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