This weekend’s Rallye Sunseeker will mark a first – the first time in the UK that a police car has been used as one of the official safety cars.

The rally has always worked closely with Dorset Police to ensure a safe event and to promote road safety. Including a Dorset Police Traffic Car as one of the official vehicles making the final safety checks ahead of the rally marks a natural development of this partnership.

The Dorset Police Land Rover Discovery travelling ahead of the rally cars will be crewed by Inspector Shaun Cronin of Dorset Police and Rallye Sunseeker Safety Manager, Neil Roden. As a highly trained police driver as well as a rally competitor, Shaun is the ideal person to undertake this role.

“Rallye Sunseeker brings tens of thousands of spectators out onto Dorset’s roads”, says Cronin. “The rally organisers have always worked closely with my Police colleagues to ensure the minimum of traffic disruption and that people arrive safely, watch safely, and get home safely.  With the Safety Manager for the event sat alongside me both the organisers and Dorset Police are better able to monitor people’s safety and react more effectively should there be an incident of any kind”.

Commenting on yet another first for Rallye Sunseeker, Safety Manager Neil Roden said: “Aside from the jokes that I’ll “be helping the police with their enquiries”, I’m delighted that we are raising the level of co-operation with Dorset Police to a new level: one which helps improve our safety planning and incident management capabilities”.

Rallye Sunseeker takes place over the weekend of 27 and 28 February with the first special stage at 7.00pm on Friday evening through Pavilion Gardens in Bournemouth. The Saturday stages take place in the forests of Wareham and Ringwood, and in the grounds of Somerley Park near Ringwood.