News and Events

Rallye ahead for BU students

29 January 2009

Car participating in last year's Rally Sunseeker (c) Bruce Grant - Braham

BU students are preparing to assist in this year's Rallye Sunseeker event.

Students from BU’s School of Services Management will be assisting at this year’s Rallye Sunseeker event, when it returns to Dorset on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 February.

Over 20 Events Management students will benefit from the association with Rallye Sunseeker, working alongside members of the organising team in a variety of roles.

Rallye Sunseeker is the opening round of the 2009 Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship and operates at 12 different venues in and around Bournemouth, with more than 1000 marshals, safety crews and medical teams involved.

The students will gain experience in marketing, resource planning, and health and safety, and some will be assigned their own projects to manage during the event.

A second group of students will plan, organise and staff an exhibition stand at Motorfair at Somerley Park, the event’s main spectator venue, near Ringwood, on Saturday 28 February.

BU’s Motor Sport Research Group will also be running two studies during the event. The first is a survey of competitors, officials and spectators to determine the economic impact of the event on the area.

The second project will see the group monitor the physiological effects of competing in the event on a number of competitors to gain a better understanding of ways to improve competitor fitness levels.

Caroline Jackson, Associate Dean for Events, Leisure & Retail from the School of Services Management commented: “Rallye Sunseeker are giving us and our students a fantastic opportunity of getting involved in the ‘grit and dirt’ of the reality of events management. Added to this we are getting access to the drivers and international spectators to do some really interesting research. We are really excited about developing our relationship with such an important local event.”

Chris Morford, Business Manager for Rallye Sunseeker added: “We are delighted to be working on this new ‘Learning Partnership’ with BU to share the knowledge and experience we have gained over many years. We are all looking forward to working with both students and staff in what we know will be a mutually beneficial project.”