WRC: Fresh crisis over 2013 season

Steve · May 31, 2012

The crisis for 2012 began when WRC promoter North One Sport suddenly went under just ahead of the start of the season. The FIA stepped in and there was a mad scramble to arrange for timing and scoring, TV coverage, ETC. Things appeared to stabilize somewhat after the first couple rallies, but the deal arranged and proposed by the FIA for 2013 has rally organizers crying foul.

Event organisers threaten to walk away from the World Rally Championship (AutoSport.com)

By David Evans | Thursday, May 31st 2012, 19:17 GMT

The World Rally Championship faces a fresh crisis after event organisers threatened to walk away from the one-year contract being offered by the FIA for 2013.

The FIA is hoping to rubber-stamp next year's WRC calendar at the June 15 meeting of the World Motor Sport Council - but the chances of that happening appear remote following significant unrest among events organisers.

The rallies which will form part of the 2013 schedule have been sent a five-page, single-season agreement from the FIA and told it must be signed and returned to the governing body by June 8. Failure to do this, they have been informed, will result in them losing their place on the calendar.

The contract dispute comes over an additional â‚¬100,000 (Â£80,000) fee which has been imposed on the organisers to cover the cost of timing and safety tracking and the production and distribution of television.

While none of the organisers were willing to be quoted, one source from an existing event said: "We are angry about this. This does not feel right. Don't forget, it's not just the money we have to pay. Last year, with North One Sport, we got the timing and tracking for free when we gave rights for our television and we were paid â‚¬25,000 [Â£20,000] by NOS.

"So actually, we're having to find â‚¬125,000. And this is on top of the â‚¬140,000 [Â£112,000] calendar fee we already have to pay. Suddenly, it's more than a quarter of a million [Euros] to be a round. This is the complete reverse of what we had last year.

"We don't sign this contract. We want to talk about it. But they [the FIA] don't give us the chance to talk about it. We want to talk about this in June [at the WMSC], but the FIA wants us to make a decision so quickly.

"I think if they [the FIA] expect everybody to sign and be happy, they are very wrong."

WRC Commission president Jarmo Mahonen pointed out that the loss of NOS was a contributing factor to the payment clause in the contract.

"In the current absence of a promoter, the championship needs investment from the manufacturers, the organisers and the FIA," he said. "It is also needed to cover part of the cost of the timing, safety tracking and television production."

The organisers also questioned what the television, timing and tracking provisions would be, and whether the rallies could source it themselves. The timing and tracking has been provided by Stage One Technology for the last 10 years.

"Can the FIA guarantee we will have the best television station?" said one organiser. "Can they guarantee we will have many million people watching the sport around the world? And we don't know what we will get for [timing and tracking] next season.

"If it's a guarantee that nothing changes from the systems we have in place this year, then that's good. OK, it's still an awful lot of budget, but we do know what we're getting is tried and tested and works perfectly. For the television, we know nothing. Maybe we can do this ourselves and save the money. Maybe this is the solution."

Mahonen said rallies potentially working alone would be detrimental to the development of the series.

"It is much more complex than organisers providing these elements as individual components," said Mahonen. "Having common systems works on a number of different levels, especially in regard to consistency for the WRC brand, its image and the future growth of the championship, as well as safety.

"But equally, the new media platforms that are of such value are driven from the content on the championship website. Without consistency, we cannot deliver this content.

"We need to continue to embrace technology and deliver content in a way that our fans want to receive it; this would not be possible if we were working with different systems at each event."
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Crashton · May 31, 2012

Sounds like Uncle Bernie has his tentacals around this one too....

Justa Jim · May 31, 2012

Just curious. Where will all the WRC drivers go, if the WRC folds?

Jim

Nathan · May 31, 2012

Crashton said: ↑

Sounds like Uncle Bernie has his tentacals around this one too....
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All I kept thinking as I was reading is that Bernie is somewhere at hand in this new contract.

Steve · May 31, 2012

If the teams thought they were having trouble getting sponsors and manufacturers to invest before, imagine what it's going to be like to even keep current levels of support given this kind of news. The FIA say they need manufacturers to step up but the manufacturers have threatened in past years to pull out if the WRC didn't get cheaper.

Crashton · May 31, 2012

Heck I have some old Sunriser 400 route books. We can hold a rally right here in beautiful southern Ohio.

ScottinBend · May 31, 2012

Crashton said: ↑

Sounds like Uncle Bernie has his tentacals around this one too....
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I keep reading testicles................

Steve · May 31, 2012

ScottinBend said: ↑

I keep reading testicles................
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I think that tells us more about you than we needed to know..... :lol:

ScottinBend · May 31, 2012

:biggrin5:

Steve · Jun 14, 2012

There's no better indicator of the issues surrounding the health of the WRC in 2013.

Richards urges the WRC to get its house in order (MaxRally.com)

13th June 2012
By Giles Wade

Prodrive chairman David Richards has admitted next yearâ€™s programme for the Mini John Cooper Works WRC remains unconfirmed due to the continued political wrangling in the World Rally Championship.

Richards said his Prodrive WRC Team had stopped chasing commercial partners for the programme, which is headed by Dani Sordo, due to the lack of a series promoter and instability surrounding the calendar.

Richards said: â€œAt the moment, we cannot go and offer sponsorship opportunities at the moment, itâ€™s simply not tenable. We canâ€™t do it in good faith and we canâ€™t queer our pitch or prejudice our relationships with people.

â€œWe are frustrated with this. We made the conscious decision that we would sit on the sidelines three months ago. I was with advertising agencies a couple of weeks ago and they were asking me what was going on in the WRC? I couldnâ€™t tell them.â€

Richards said much hinged on getting the right decisions from tomorrowâ€™s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.

He added: â€œIf we were to get the right direction from Fridayâ€™s World Motor Sport Council meeting then we can be out there straight away, building the programme for next year.â€

The Prodrive WRC Team will contest next weekâ€™s Rally New Zealand with a single car for Sordo. Two cars are expected to run from the Banbury firm in Germany and GB later in the year.
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