A Bendigo couple who won last year’s Victorian Rally Championship, are making a come back after a nine month break from the sport of rallying and all for a good cause. Tristan Penhall and co-driving partner Jolie Middleton will be contesting the 2014 Bendigo Tyre Centre Victorian Noted Rally Series with the aim of raising awareness to end violence against women and children.
“We decided that after the last few years of rallying for our own personal enjoyment and achieving our goal of winning the Victorian Rally Championship, we wanted to do something to make a difference in our community,” Penhall said.
“Preventing and ending violence against women and children is something that Jolie and I feel strongly about and is such an important issue that supporting the White Ribbon campaign was the obvious choice for us.
“In addition to raising awareness about this issue, we will be trying to win the series and if we win we will personally donate the $2500 of prize money to our local family violence service, the Centre for Non Violence,” he said.
Penhall hopes that other men will become more aware of how important respect and other attitudinal changes towards women in the community is in order to end violence against women. Using their rallying to raise awareness, the pair aims to encourage others to also take a stand and swear the White Ribbon oath to end violence against women and children.
The 2014 Bendigo Tyre Centre Victorian Noted Rally Series runs in conjunction with the final three rounds of the 2014 Focus on Furniture Victorian Rally Championship calendar, with one of these events also joining with the East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship.
But it’s not just the rally community the pair hopes to influence. The Bendigo White Ribbon Day community event will be supported by the Penhall Motorsport rally car, with Penhall and Middleton in it, leading the community walk around the Bendigo CBD transporting the Family Violence Elephant on the roof of their car.
Penhall and Middleton are offering the opportunity for businesses to support their campaign and join a championship winning team and experience the thrill of rallying. To get on board, check them out at www.penhallmotorsport.com.au or email theteam@penhallmotorsport.com.au.
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