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The Opel Dakar team, recently signed to Toyo Tires, have released a promotional movie which sees their Opel Mokka race car transported to 15th Century Italy.

The plot sees driver, Szalay Balázs, pushing the car on a desert shake down when a technical problem halts their progreess and  smoke fills the cockpit. Szalay and co-driver László Bunkocziget get out to investigate and while out of the car, Szalay notices a problem with his watch. When the smoke clears, they find themselves in the middle of an Italian medival village. the presence of their 'diabolical' machine provokes fear and a scream from one of the locals sees village defeners take arms against them. Szalay and  László quickly jump back in the car before being furiously chased by defenders on horseback.

The tight confines of the village provide a challenging environment for the Opel Mokka car in the chase scenes. They also provide an opportunity for a few cheeky insertions of sponsors logos. Sadly, Toyo Tires logo is not featured in the film which was shot just prior to them upgrading to Open Country M/T-R tires. Watch out for clever use of the Fa, heathcare brand as well as Total oils among the sponsors logos.

Szalay evades capture hiding behind some straw in the village, but when they emerge, the car has returned to the desert where it is being studied by a puzzled nomad. Is it a dream? When the Opel Mokka drives off, the arrows embedded in its rear indicate that it might not have been. 

The film, designed to raise awareness of the Opel Dakar Team and their sponsors, takes a few liberties. Set in 15th Century Italy, in fact the filming was all done at Korda Studios in Etyek, Hungary. The location was carefully chosen as it was used by Showtime to produce their epic TV series, The Borgias, starrring Jeremy Irons.

Szalay's Opel Dakar team will contest the upcoming Africa Eco Race on 235/85 R 16 Open Country M/T-R tires. The race to Dakar, commencing on December 29, crosses the Sahara desert before finishing over 5.000km later in Senegal. Drivers, team, car and tires will all be tested to their limits in the gruelling race. Daily updates will be available on toyotires.eu.