Belgian Sports Legends Face Off in CZAR.BE's 'Race of the Century'

Koen Mortier created and directed the campaign ‘Race of the Century’ to promote the grand exhibition for the 70th birthdays of Belgian sports icons Eddy Merckx and Jacky Ickx. The campaign was commissioned by publishing house Kannibaal and Pièce Montée. 

In 2015 Eddy Merckx and Jacky Ickx celebrate their 70th birthday with an exhibition. Never before seen pieces from their personal collections, including original racing bikes and authentic racing cars (Ferrari, Porsche, Ford), unique memorabilia, trophies, photo and film material, have been brought together for the first and only time in a pop-up exhibition at the Heizel in Brussels. 

The sports heroes have won innumerable races, but there’s still one race missing from their impressive record: The race against each other. They have never been able to challenge each other as they competed in totally different disciplines. 

This formed the basis of the campaign. A duel between two champions, using the equipment they raced with in the heydays when they outshone everyone else. Eddy Merckx on the racing bike with which he won the Giro and the Tour de France, and Jacky Ickx with his Porsche 936/77 Spyder with which he won the Le Mans race in 1977. 

The plan was for the race to be a 50 yards sprint with Eddy Merckx getting a flying start. Through different channels (internet and radio) extras who wanted to be part of this ‘Race of the Century’ were gathered. All the communication concerning the event, the casting, etc. was done with a huge emphasis on the exhibition itself.