Dennis Publishing will be the official media partner to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship for a seventh consecutive season, it was announced today.
The flagship publications of Dennis, Auto Express and evo, will again head up the companies coverage of the BTCC in 2010.
The countries number 1 motoring weekly, Auto Express, as well as the monthly Evo will both carry news, reviews, previews, features, reader competitions and advertising in their pages as well as online. Their competition will give fans the chance to win tickets to BTCC events as well as some VIP prizes.
Auto Express averages 64,000 sales a week, making it the UK's leading car weekly, while Evo, which is monthly, averages 64,500 sales. Readership of the publications hits 265,000 for Auto Express and 220,000 for Evo magazine.
Combined hits to Auto Express's website and Evo magazine's website hit 1.6m unique visitors a week, meaning that per year, that's a staggering 19 million plus unique visitors.
As well as Auto Express and Evo, the new agreement will see another 3 ultra successful monthly publications – the historic performance car favourite Octane, which has a circulation of 33,341, top technology magazine PC Pro (67,558) and Men Fitness, a highly regarded fitness magazine (68,037).
In exchange for this, each of the 23 registered cars in the 2010 BTCC will carry the logos for Auto Express and Evo on the door number panels, so they will be seen by the trackside crowds, 325,000 people will have seen it at a live event during 2009, as well as the 13.8 million live Television viewers in the UK, as well as a potential 1.35 billion worldwide viewers – the BTCC is shown by 14 other broadcasters in 5 different continents.
Dennis Publishing Director James Burnay commented: “We are delighted to be continuing our great relationship with the BTCC. The championship proved yet again in 2009 it remains head and shoulders above the rest. For as long as I can remember the BTCC has been UK motor sport's jewel in the crown with its terrific calibre of drivers and teams, fantastic variety of models of car and sensational action on the track – I'm sure we'll see more of the same in 2010”
“Furthermore, the BTCC's accessibility, approachable nature of its star names and ability to adapt to ever-shifting times in the media are unparalleled and make working with the championship a highly pleasurable experience for our staff. The BTCC is also hugely popular among our readers and we very much look forward to telling the tale of another outstanding season of unpredictability and high drama in our pages between now and October.”
BTCC Series Director Alan Gow added: “The Dennis name is at the very forefront of the UK's publishing industry and it has undoubtedly played a key role in the BTCC's growth in popularity during the last six years. Its titles are of the highest quality and the readership and visitor numbers associated with the Auto Express and evo magazines and websites are truly phenomenal – their coverage of the forthcoming season make them a must-read for all BTCC fans. Likewise Octane, PC Pro and Men's Fitness all of which we welcome into our agreement for 2010 with great excitement.
“Coming on top of a new four-year title sponsorship agreement with the Goodyear-Dunlop group and continued high-profile TV exposure from the ITV network, our partnership with Dennis is yet more great news for all our teams, drivers, sponsors, circuits and fans.”
Thruxton will host the opening round of the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship on the 3rd and 4th April, and features the opening 3 rounds of the BTCC, as well as the opening rounds for the supporting Ginetta G50's, Ginetta Juniors, Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Elf Renault Clio Cup and the Formula Renault UK Championship.
Photo credit: Vince Pettit Photography
