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January 25th 2005
BMW Celebrity Race - F1 Australian Grand Prix

Drive Aid: BMW Celebrity Challenge Drive Auction on eBay

Australia’s most charitable drivers will bid to win a place in the 2005 BMW Celebrity Challenge at the upcoming FORMULA 1™ Foster’s Australian Grand Prix.

The chance-of-a-lifetime drive is being auctioned in aid of the tsunami relief effort on eBay (www.ebay.com.au), and the winning bidder will join 27 famous Australian faces in the BMW Celebrity Challenge at the Grand Prix in Melbourne’s Albert Park on 3-6 March.

If the prestigious position in the BMW Celebrity Challenge field was not enough of a prize, the winning bidder also secures 10 corporate hospitality tickets for all four days of the Grand Prix, and two tickets to the glittering Grand Prix Ball, the annual highlight of Melbourne’s social calendar.

The BMW Celebrity Challenge drive is an opportunity that traditionally money cannot buy. It kicks off with four days of intensive BMW Driver Training in the lead up to the Grand Prix and requires all entrants to secure a CAMS licence in order to race on the Formula 1 track.

The theme for this year’s BMW Celebrity Challenge is “Best of the Best”, drawing mainly on stars who have excelled in the event in the past – including reigning winner, Olympic rowing icon James Tomkins.

Australia’s most generous driver will secure the final berth buy entering the highest bid before the auction closes on 28 January.

Powering the BMW Celebrity Challenge in 2005 is the all-new 2.0-litre rear-wheel drive BMW 1 Series.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation and BMW Group Australia took the decision to offer the seat in the BMW Celebrity Challenge as the latest contribution to relief efforts following the tragic Boxing Day tsunami in Asia.

Network Ten, host broadcaster of Formula One in Australia, will support the auction through its News and ‘Sports Tonight’ programmes.

As a benchmark, Melbourne businessman Danny Wallis paid $60,000 at a charity event organised by Australia’s Formula One driver – and new BMW.WilliamsF1 Team star driver – Mark Webber for a drive in the 2004 BMW Celebrity Challenge.

The corporate hospitality component of the auction prize is valued at $17,550, while the Grand Prix Ball tickets would otherwise cost $1,470.

Proceeds from the auction will to go to Oxfam, one of the agencies co-ordinating tsunami relief aid.