MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NZ Cannonball Run Organiser Says Event is Hero Not the Villain

Auckland, 13 January 2012 - Organisers of the New Zealand Cannonball Run, Auckland Motorsport Ltd say that this year's event, now in its fourth year, was the hero and not the villain despite an unfortunate posting of an unauthorised photo on a social media website showing a mock arrest of a police officer with a toy gun pointed at his head.

The Cannonball Run's theme for 2012 was ' Heroes and Villains ' and attracted a wide field of participants and vehicles with a Police officer participating in the event to do a speech on safety while on the Run. The aim of the Cannonball Run was for competitors to complete various ' missions ' as part of the run, one of which was to get a photo with a Police officer posed in a humorous way.

Vaughan Philip, Managing Director of Auckland Motorsport says that it was unfortunate that some of the competitors got carried away in trying to win the photo challenge but the Officer was "a good sport" helping with lots of competitor photos.

“This year we had over 270 cars and approximately 600 participants in the 'Heroes and Villains' themed event. A few of the participants requested posing for a photo which the Police Officer declined as not appropriate. The organizers of the NZ Cannonball Run were disappointed that in this instance the Police officer agreed to a joking mock reverse arrest but during the photo a second person had entered the shot posing with a toy firearm pointed at his head. The angle at which the photo was taken failed to show the humour intended of the original pose. It is clear that the police office would not have approved of the second person being involved but he was not aware of him as the second person behind and out of his view,” says Philip.

“It was unfortunate that this photo was then posted on a social network site. We do not condone it and are pleased that this has now been taken down despite also being published in a major daily newspaper. This Photo with the Police has been a regular feature of the Cannonball Run, the photos have always been of a positive nature and there has never been any inappropriate photo previously.”

The organisers appreciate the Police involvement and the emphasis they give on safety and hope this will continue in the future.

ENDS

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