Drive away with a million

The Great Driving Challenge is open to couples over 20 who love to travel and blog. Already, 400 couples from Bangalore have answered the call of adventure and big money

If you love travelling and can blog about it just as passionately, you could drive away with a cool million rupees.
Registrations for The Great Driving Challenge, organised by Hindustan Motors Limited (HM) and Mitsubishi Cedia Sports, opened on June 22. Already, 400 couples fromu00a0 Bangalore have registered for the first such all-India contest open to couples over 20. Registration is on until July 17 at www.greatdrivingchallenge.com.

To qualify

Blogging about one's travel experiences in the past is all that's needed to qualify for the final which entails a 3,000-km ride and the chance to win Rs 10 lakh.

"Driving is a pleasure and we want more couples to come out and share their experiences," said Saswati Sen, member, marketing research team, HM. "The contest has seen a huge response as a large number of couples have started blogging their travelogues."

Big challenge

Immediately after registering, couples can start blogging about their previous travelu00a0experiences and escapades. They can also post photographs and videos to make it more appealing.

Friends and followers can write about the participants and vote for them. The top 100 couples will be short-listed based on public votes.

"In the next round, nine couples will be shortlisted after verifying their experiences, photographs and videos," said Rajesh, who has designed the website for the contest.u00a0u00a0
u00a0
In the final phase, six couples will be eliminated after a three-day audition which will include aptitude testing.
Finally, Hindustan Motors will sponsor a 3,000-km trip for the three couples. They can cover any route of their choice in 12 days and will continue to blog their experience and post photographs and videos throughout.

The public will choose the winners based on their posts and the lucky couple will walk away with a million rupees on August 17.

Young couples are naturally excited.

"We will register," said Shivkumar K, an engineer in Bangalore who loves to travel. "We hope to get that million," he says.