Sponsored by Michelin together with Rallying with Group B, the rally will take place over the bank holiday weekend of 25/26 August on the roads of Cheshire and North Staffordshire, with Special Stages in the grounds of castles and stately homes and service at Oulton Park race circuit.

It will feature full rally competition, with road and multi-venue mileage plus there will be a display event, where entrants will drive (more sedately) through the stages without competing against the clock.

The event is Rallying with Group B’s take on the fabled spectacular stages of the RAC Rallies of the 1980s and will be run as a National B Event under the General Regulation of the UK MSA. It will incorporate the provisions of the International Sporting Code of the FIA and Appendices K and J, both for competition and demonstration.

Rallying with Group B’s members have already reserved more than 60 places at the event, so there should be cars to suit every taste that will help recapture the heady days of this iconic era of rallying. At each stage venue there will also be a rally show, with display areas for exhibitors and car clubs.

Steve Dolby, Michelin Product Marketing Manager, comments: “Michelin is delighted to be involved with the Rallying with Group B Trust on this spectacular event.

“Michelin has a strong commitment to motorsport, demonstrated by the fact that we are at the top of today’s World Rally Championship and we were also there during the glory days of Group B on such iconic cars as the Audi Quattro and Peugeot 205 T16. Therefore, it is only natural that Michelin is involved in this event which aims to recapture the feel of one of the most memorable periods in rallying’s history”.

There’s still time if you’d like to enter your own period rally car, or exhibit at the event – just contact the event team at www.rallyegroupeb.com.

We’ve teamed up with Michelin in an exclusive competition to give three lucky winners a pair of VIP Hospitality tickets to watch all the action at Wales Rally GB on Saturday 12th November. Saturday will be Day 3 of the rally, which visits the famous Sweet Lamb stage, boasting one of the finest natural spectator areas in the World Rally Championship.

With spectacular views, water splashes, jumps and hairpin bends it is bound to be a true crowd pleaser.

UPDATE: If you missed the live event, the edited highlights video is now available to watch. Take a look at the bottom of this page.

The race which will be broadcast live from 3pm (BST) later today will be run within a purpose-built game within GT5 called, the Mercedes-Benz Driving Event.

With Coulthard in the driving seat, Martin Brundle and Jonathan Legard will provide commentary and present the live broadcast. To add to the drama the track will remain a secret until the day to give all competitors a fair chance at victory, although perhaps in a deliberate faux-pas Legard announced on Twitter this morning “F1 star v virtual racers. Who’ll be champion around Dunsfold? #topgeartrack TODAY”.

He later corrected himself by tweeting, “Assuming it is there, of course. Like the stig, Some things aren’t always what they seem. Watch this space…”.

Jeremy Hart interviewed Martin Brundle for The Telegraph last week, who said, “When I first heard about this competition I thought it was DC racing gamers on a computer game, and he’s absolutely hopeless at that,” chortles Brundle. Then he gets serious. “But in a real SLS I think he’ll give them a good run for their money.”

“When I drive a car on a game, it amazes me how real it can feel. I recognise some of the traits of the real car in the digital version. But until you have felt the real car, the grip, the fear, you haven’t got a reference point. That’s why a digital racer needs the racing experience as well.”

Brundle then goes on to say, “In a real car you have to trust you can turn into a bend at 180mph and the car will stick and you won’t go off and kill yourself,” says Brundle. “If you go off the track during a game, it doesn’t hurt. That’s why we are still a long way from someone coming from virtual racing becoming a world champion. There are so many levels to being a top-flight racing driver. How to set up the car, read the weather and race wheel to wheel.”

Meanwhile at Mercedes-Benz World, Surrey, 24 prize draw winners will be battling it out to qualify for their place in the big race, and the lucky few who set the top six qualifying times will then compete against Coulthard in real time at Mercedes’ Brooklands venue, where visitors are welcome to come along and watch the action for themselves.

The GT5 contestant that sets the fastest lap will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2011 Brazilian Formula 1™ Grand Prix on 27 November.

If you weren’t lucky enough to make it through to the final 24 players, then you can still compete against Coulthard in the SLS AMG by entering the specially created in-game ‘seasonal event’ on GT5. Leaderboard information for the Mercedes-Benz Driving Event will be available on www.gran-turismo.com

The in-game Mercedes-Benz Driving Event will be available until Monday 26 September so there’s plenty of time to earn those bragging rights, but make sure you tune in this afternoon to gain some pointers on how to beat an F1 driver..

Edited Highlights

The aim of the game is to get through the initial qualifying rounds – 4 tracks. 4 levels of difficulty – using different MINI models, then reach the virtual MINI Challenge final at the Munich Olympic Stadium. There’s a pretty decent prize for winners of the game – the chance to win tickets to the Live DTM show at Munich’s Olympic stadium on 16th/17th July 2011, including accommodation for 2 people.

Under the motto “Life is a Race.” The audience is plunged into the world of the most powerful production MINI, the 207 bhp MINI John Cooper Works. Players are challenged to become one of the Top 10 fastest drivers, thereafter MINI Germany will perform a raffle to select the winning entrant.

The large-scale campaign for the MINI John Cooper Works takes place in four consecutive phases, each with increasing levels of difficulty and Facebook content includes the 3D Race Game, an online contest “The Grand Prix of San Memo,” plus a key visual which loads from banners and provides a tool for booking test drives directly from Facebook.

The real turncoat in this transformation is Volvo’s new S60 and V60 models, but the C30 is the model that Volvo have been campaigning to great success in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) and Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC). Ex-BTCC champion James Thompson, now drives for the Volvo Polestar team in STCC and is part of Volvo’s road car chassis dynamics development team together with Polestar WTCC-driver Robert Dahlgren – so expect to see the sporty gene spread further throughout the range.

That’s what last year’s ‘Naughty Volvo’ campaign for the S60 launch was designed to convey – sensible is now joined by playfulness and fun – and what better way to show this new personality than by running its most sporting models up the hallowed Goodwood Hill at this year’s Moving Motor Show (Thursday, June 30th, 2011).

But Volvo have gone one step further than merely running its cars up the hill, they’re inviting you to get behind the wheel and experience their most extreme models from the driver’s seat. We’ve teamed up with Volvo to offer 15 pairs of tickets to the Goodwood Moving Motor Show.

On hand will be the C30 T5 Polestar, S60 D5 R-Design and V60 T6 R-Design Polestar and every day this week a pair of tickets will be won by the first two users who respond correctly to Volvo’s daily trivia question.

Sound good? Well, for your chance to win today’s ticket give-away, just follow these simple steps:

1. 1. Follow InsideVolvoUK on Twitter Follow
2. 2. Tweet your answer on Twitter including the hashtag #VolvoMMS

Please read the full Competition Terms and Conditions to ensure you’ve complied with all the conditions of entry – entrants supplying the correct answer without following InsideVolvoUK and including the hashtag #VolvoMMS may have their answers invalidated, so make sure you’ve covered these conditions when you enter.

Don’t send your answers to us here at SkiddMark, but if you have any questions then feel free to get in touch with us at support@skiddmark.com.

The competition runs each day from 12pm to 5pm, until Friday this week, so make sure you enter – you never know, it might be your turn to win.

Good Luck!

When examining the vast array of videos, microsites and social media content we concluded that there was simply too much – the average viewer neither has the time nor the interest to wade through 24 videos (now 26 including the recent V60 promotions) and such dilution of their focus can subsequently undermine sharing on social media channels as our brief analysis of the views and shares appears to prove.

The response we received from readers at the time was one of suspicion, doubting the likelihood of a truly fun Volvo and figuring that with such a double-barreled charm offensive, Volvo were turning up the volume on their promotional activities to drown out any dissenters. “Let the car speak for itself…” they told us, rather than telling us how naughty it was – whatever that means!

So last weekend we joined Volvo’s Naughty Track Event and we brought along competition winner Kevin Matthews to provide a readers’s perspective. Kevin previously owned a Subaru Impreza Turbo, so he should be able to smell a rat if Volvo’s marketing team has been overly ambitous in it’s numerous references to the S60′s sporty nature.

You can read about Kevin’s impression of the day in the seperate article, “Naughty Volvo, The Competition Winner’s Story”.

What’s the S60 really like?

I’ve driven plenty of Volvos in the past, they’re safe, quite quick sometimes but ultimately a bit… beige. Let’s face it, Volvo’s average customer is a million miles away from the type that frequents a certain Munich brand, so when Volvo say that the S60 is a sporty and dynamic car to drive, I peg my expectations back a few notches.

First up in our Naughty Volvo experience is the Pro-Drive event, where a professional racing driver shows us around the Top Gear track at Dunsford. I step in beside Brazillian race driver Tommy Erdos – former British Formula Renault champion, BTCC competitor and race finisher in the Le Mans 24 Hours. As befits a top-level driver Tommy’s style of driving is smooth, economical and fearless.

He starts slowly showing me around the track, then after a lap he ups the pace. First up Tommy explains how much he enjoys driving the S60 around this track, “…it’s not boring, in fact it’s great fun to really get the S60 sliding – my passengers love that!” Tommy demonstrates just how balanced the S60 is when trail-braked into the left-right of Hammerhead, the S60′s tail kicks out as we brake and turn for the left-hander but the transition into the long right-hand corner exit is undramatic, there’s little understeer and the S60′s body control made the maneuver look easy.

The next trick Tommy wants to show me is the flat-right through Wilson Bend towards Follow-Through, his initial turn-in is aggressive to show how stable the S60 is at these high speeds (110 mph at this point), he really takes liberties with the S60 (and its Continental SportContact3 tyres), but despite the howls of protest from the tarmac beneath us the S60 isn’t fussed. He carries the speed into Follow-Through with his right-foot pinned to the floor – we’re well above 100 mph at this point and I can see that Tommy’s enjoying taking the S60 by the scruff of the neck in a way that would feel unnatural in most ordinary road cars.

Bacharach Bend is perhaps the most difficult on the circuit to get right, it’s unsighted and its exit leads into Gambon corner – another important corner which leads onto the longest straight and where the start/finish line is located. Surprisingly the S60 responds well to a lift of the throttle, so if entry speed is a little too ambitous into Bacharach the driver can still trim the S60′s line before tackling Gambon.

This is very un-Volvo like. Shouldn’t it be understeering horribly by now?

We're entering Bacharach Bend at around 90 mph and Tommy has lifted to dial in some oversteer before the next corner, Gambon. This is the maximum lean-angle you'll experience in the S60.

On our cooling-down lap Tommy explains that the S60′s chassis is essentially inert yet still responds well to a driver’s bidding, so the average driver will just feel confident and safe, whilst the more experienced driver can enjoy taking liberties safe in the knowledge that the S60 will not bite back. Ahh, so that’s why Volvo were calling the S60 the Naughty Volvo – strong and sensible on the outside, but when nobody’s looking it likes nothing better than to lay big black lines along the tarmac.

The S60 and I are going to get along just fine…

Behing the wheel

Our first taste from the driving seat of the S60 was with V70 Police car sat directly behind us – there’s nothing to fear but fear itself! A series of activities ensued – being chased through a slalom, practicing lift-off oversteer and testing out Volvo’s pedestrian detection with auto braking technology. As we progressed through the day our respect for Volvo’s achievements became ever more clear.

A scene we all dread, but this was just part of the fun on Volvo's Naughty Track Event.

The transformation Volvo have achieved over previous models is truly remarkable, the S60 steers crisply with just enough weight and feedback to suit enthusiast drivers Its brakes stood up with little protest to the punishment of repeated track use and it was genuinely fun to hustle around the various courses laid on for us on the day.

But does it stand comparison with BMW’s 3-series, or Mercedes’ C-class? Surprisingly the answer is yes. The S60 is solid, well made and a step above the Mondeo/Insignia crowd in terms of prestige and quality, but more importantly it’s been thoroughly well developed as a drivers car. Who’d have thought we’d be saying that about a Volvo?

[styledbox type="information" ]Thanks: I’d just like to thank all the drivers and instructors that made the Naughty Volvo Event such fun for all who attended. A big hand for the pro-drivers including James Rhodes, Tommy Erdos and Ross Hockenhull, who pounded around the track lap after lap in the S60, despite being used to driving much faster cars.

We’d also like to thank Fusion Events who ran the day smoothly with a smile on their faces and plenty of enthusiasm – we highly recommend them if you’re looking for a top-notch event management team.

[/styledbox]

Photos: Kevin McGlone

My day was almost over before it began since I’d forgotten to bring the paper part of my driving licence along (yes, the part that no one ever carries around) to register as a participant.

Apparently they needed this to verify that I’d not been banned from driving, or perhaps they were worried I might be a Bavarian spy..

So, thankfully after a quick call to the DVLA, the event organisers were satisfied that I posed no more risk to their range of cars than anyone else at the event.

Event 1: Pro-Drive

With that little mishap behind me I began the day being treated to several fast laps around the Top Gear circuit by a rather rapid Tommy Erdos, the well respected Le Mans Driver. The circuit has been graced by an array of extremely (and not so) talented drivers over the years – including the recently departed Stig, so I was fascinated to sit next to a professional and see it for myself.

Kevin sits alongside pro-driver Tommy Erdos as they head towards Gambon corner on the Top Gear circuit layout.

I have to say, Tommy really demonstrated what the new S60 was capable of doing. It was not the speed that impressed me, rather the car’s stability and agility. It was definitely a long way removed from Volvo’s of old.

Event 2: The Chase

We moved swiftly on to the next event on the opposite side of the enormous aerodrome (I never realised how huge this site is – the Top Gear section is just one tiny little part!).

This time we had to negotiate a tidy arrangement of cones used to mark out a series of slaloms and chicanes, with the goal of gaining an understanding of the car’s balance and handling – yet, the Volvo team thought that they’d make it a little more challenging by having a Volvo V70 Police Car chase us through the course!

Kevin was smiling as he climbed into the S60, shortly before he attempted to flee from the V70 police car. Now we understand why he 'forgot' to bring his licence along...

The best bit of this particular event for me however was getting the chance to ride in the passenger seat of the Police Car when the Pro-drivers tackled the course themselves at full speed – let’s just say there was a small amount of personal pride, mixed with a dash of ego, at stake for these guys. I’ll be taking those blurred images of hanging only inches from the tail of that S60 to my grave…

Event 3: Pedestrian Avoidance and Auto Braking Test

Back to base, a quick coffee and snack and then on to the sensible part of the day – the chance to see the Volvo auto-stop features in action. It was, well, typically Volvo really. Solid, reliable, safe, boring (I mean, in comparison to the previous two events), yet it demonstrated qualities of the S60 that every family man would seriously want to consider for their next automotive purchase.

Frank was abit camera-shy, so instead here's a picture of the 'solid' object Volvo used to simulate the S60's auto-braking system.

Frank (the inflatable dummy used to simulate a real pedestrian) looked a bit fed-up after being driven at all day, but at least we didn’t hit him, thanks to the spookily effective safety systems on the new S60. We promised to bring Frank a cup of tea later in the day, since he looked a bit parched..

Event 4: Lift-off oversteer test

For this test our instructor switched the stability control (DSTC) off, which doesn’t remove the safety net completely since there’s still 20% of the system active, but the idea was to show us how unobtrusive these systems were.

The exercise was simple – drive at a patch of wet tarmac as fast as you can, then turn and lift-off abruptly to see what happens. The result? Well the S60 oversteered for a fraction of a second before being reigned back in gently by the stability controls. Very undramatic and yet it was impossible to notice the stability controls cutting in.

The S60 shrugged of every attempt to unsettle it, this event was designed to test its high-speed stability when the driver responds suddenly to a loss of grip.

Event 5: Timed slalom

OK, sensible stuff out the way, now it was time to finish off the day with a competition event – who would be the fastest driver to negotiate a series of tight turns and obstacles. The winner would be the one who controlled their speed to complete the course without hitting any cones or missing gates, a 10 second penalty awaited anyone who transgressed.

By the end of the day Kevin's confidence in the S60 saw his customary smile replaced with a 'race face'.

I got close (actually within .8 of a second) but not close enough to win our group. Still the buzz was fantastic and it surprised me (again) how capable the S60 proved to be.

Wrapping up

So, the day drew to a close. Without doubt, an excellent experience and hat’s off to the event team (customer service and drivers) for the part they played – they were superb. All of them showed incredible enthusiasm for the event (despite an 8am start) and seemed to genuinely enjoy being part of the Naughty Volvo experience.

Finally, to the all important question . . . has the event altered my opinion of the Volvo brand?

I’m pleased to say yes – and in the most positive of ways.

When I was first invited to the event I thought Volvo were trying to prove themselves as a hot, sporty saloon manufacturer, worthy of competing against the established pedigrees of BMW and Audi. However, I soon realised that the event was not about that at all.

Volvo were simply showing that they were not boring, because let’s be honest, that’s what we tend to think of them; sensible, safe and boring.

Yet, the event clearly showed another side to the car, a side which could be fun, lively, agile and entertaining – but without compromising any of the important safety qualities that the company is so reputed for.

So overall, was it good to get a bit naughty with the S60?. . I’d say!

[styledbox type="information" align="center"]Thanks to Volvo for organising the ‘Naughty S60 Track Event’ and Skiddmark for running the competition that gave me the opportunity to experience the Volvo S60 and the event – Kevin Matthews. [/styledbox]

Photos: Kevin McGlone

If you’re new to Volvo’s Naughty campaign, then you can aquaint yourself by visting our recent review. You’ll need to have watched at least a few of the videos in order to answer the competition question.

The itenary on the day is a busy one, the day kicks off after the welcome briefing with a S60 Gymkhana (perhaps not quite to Ken Block’s level!), then you’ll get the opportunity to ride shotgun with a professional before getting behind the wheel for yourself.

You’ll get chased by a fully-liveried Volvo Police Car (without risk of a visit to the magistrates court), thereafter you’ll learn about the scandinavian flick, lift-off oversteer and the fastest way through a slalom.

Sound fun?

You’ll need to be over 25 years of age and free to join us on Saturday October 9th, 2010, we’re also adding another condition to winning the prize – we’re looking for someone willing to write about their experiences afterwards.

(The competition closes on Friday 1st October at 11:59pm GMT and we wish you the very best of luck)

The Competition Question

To join us at Volvo’s Naughty Track Experience just answer this simple question and give us a reason to choose you by telling us about your naughtiest moment when driving a car. Don’t worry, all information will remain strictly confidential and will not be shared with any other party (we will also dispose of your details after the competition has ended).

For further information about Volvo Track Days, or to find out more about the all-new S60 and V60, visit http://www.volvotrackdays.com/ or http://www.volvocars.com/uk/.

That’s a bold statement in a sector which includes BMW’s 3-series, Audi’s A4 and Mercedes-Benz’s C-class, cars which attract the most aspirational young execs looking for a set of wheels that convey the kind of confident swagger that will see them elevated towards top management. A car in this sector is as significant a style accessory as a Boss suit or TW Steel watch – ambitious, daring and adventurous – a world away from the underlying foundation of Volvo which is firmly grounded upon the brand’s safety record.

Safety is… well, SAFE! It’s also boring, unadventurous and a bit… sensible. So when Volvo set out to market their new sporty S60 (a car that drives like no other Volvo before it) they looked for a way to convey just how different the S60 really was.

Volvo have pursued a ‘sporty’ image before with its turbocharged ‘T’ models and involvement in high-profile motorsport campaigns such as the BTCC, they’ve connected with younger audiences through their association with the ever-popular Twighlight movies, but the mid-executive sector long dominated by BMW’s 3-series is perhaps a tougher nut to crack.

So, how have Volvo tried to achieve this leap in perception?

Volvo chose the agencies Arnold Worldwide, EuroRSCG 4D and SapientNitro to help develop the campaign aiming to build upon the brand’s responsible reputation by showing it has a fun and adventurous side.

They enlisted the help of Scott Weintrob – a Director of the BBC’s Top Gear, along with the Stig (race driver Ben Collins) and together they trekked off to the Volvo Proving Grounds in the remote forests of Hällered, Sweden to shoot the Naughty Volvo in action.

The campaign was structured into 4 ‘Levels’ – the first 3 Levels were pre-filmed and aired on YouTube and on the Naughty Volvo microsite, the 4th Level filmed in May 2010 was then created by crowd-sourcing a few hundred suggestions from Volvo’s Facebook page and the comments made on several websites.

The team were proud to have achieved the campaign’s early response without resorting to traditional paid media, however whilst word-of-mouth marketing is a useful tool it works best with brands where an initial curiousity already exists.

Volvo are one of the first automotive brands to employ crowd-sourcing techniques to enlist the participation of internet audiences in their video ads.

It was a bold concept but as is often the case with these types of campaign, the implementation has been too complex for audiences to actually follow – it’s taken us many hours of analysis and tracking just to navigate our way through the campaign – and that’s only because of our wish to explain it to you. The average internet user is just not going to spend that kind of time figuring out a brand’s message, which is a shame since Volvo and their agencies have cleared invested a great deal of time and effort in creating the campaign.

Let me ‘outline’ just what there is to discover, should you be interested in finding out for yourself..

What happens next?

The Naughty Volvo campaign is a perfect example of one where initial response should not be used as the only measure of success, the first stage has been focused on communicating Volvo’s intent to compete in this sector – the recent Volvo V60 video (the estate version of this new S60) has already achieved more than 130,000 views on YouTube which arguably would not have been possible without the earlier stages of the Naughty Volvo campaign.

However the campaign still has a ‘corporate’ feel to it (amplifying the brand more so than the intended audience), we’ve already mentioned how the average internet user is likely to be confused by the sheer breadth of video content and the target user seems to be the non-enthusiast, rather than the more naturally outspoken opinion maker.

Any social media campaign can be looked at in three phases; priming (building awareness and creating a more receptive audience), facilitating conversation (usually pinpointing potential advocates and feeding the debate within social hubs), and finally demonstrating reward (amplifying the feedback and experiences of audiences who’ve been engaged by the campaign) which then invites further interest.

What Volvo really needs is for more people to drive the S60 and share their first-hand experiences with others and this is where you come in. We’ve managed to secure a place for a SkiddMark reader at a forthcoming Naughty Volvo Track Day, where you can learn how to perform a scandanavian flick, get chased by a Police Car (complete with blues-and-twos) and drive at the well-known Dunsfold test track in Surrey?

If this is the kind of event that floats your boat, then get your entry in at our competition page..

Following radical new rule changes, the racing promises to be fiercer than ever as there’s everything to play for for the top six ‘title fighters’ in the two feature races at Silverstone. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Josh Brookes (both HM Plant Honda) and British rider Tommy Hill (Worx Suzuki) have been leading the championship all season and will be keen to continue their excellent form on Silverstone’s new Grand Prix Circuit.

Current standings: T. Hill Worx Suzuki (570 pts); M. Laverty Relentless Suzuki (554 pts); R. Kiyonari HM Plant Honda (543 pts)

The Northamptonshire track has invested more than £5 million in its new, super fast 3.666 mile GP circuit, which delivered spectacular races when the MotoGP and World Superbike Championships visited Silverstone earlier in the year. The dramatic new section of track and ongoing improvements to spectator viewing facilities will all add to the exhilarating atmosphere of the BSB showdown.

BSB Title Challengers (L to R): Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki), Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki), Tommy Hill (Worx Suzuki), Michael Rutter (Riders Ducati), Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda), Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda).

We have teamed up with Silverstone to give two lucky winners a pair of weekend tickets to watch all the action at the Home of British Motor Racing. To be in with a chance of winning simply answer the following question:

(The competition closes on Monday 20th September at 11:59pm GMT and we wish you the very best of luck)

The Competition Question

If you already follow us on Twitter (@DriversRepublic) then you may remember a conversation we had a few months ago after Cal Crutchlow won the World Superbike Round on Silverstone’s new GP circuit.

We wondered how much quicker a Moto GP bike would be on the same (new) circuit and we ended up comparing the race times of Jorge Lorenzo (MotoGP) earlier in the year with Cal Crutchlow’s WSB race time on the new layout. Now would be probably be a good time to search back through our Twitter conversations to answer the following question…