What Rally NZ can learn from Rally Estonia
Rally Estonia takes place in a small country, organisers battled for many years to get onto the WRC calendar, it takes place on gravel roads and has one local driver all the fans want to see. Sound familiar?
Last weekend’s WRC event in Tartu, southern Estonia, didn’t produce a thrilling finish, with 21-year-old Finn Kalle Rovanpera¨ , winning it comfortably for his fifth triumph in seven events this season.
But it was a great success in terms of showcasing the sport, embracing fans and exposing the country to a global audience.
With Rally New Zealand back on the WRC calendar in September, there is plenty to learn from what the people behind Rally Estonia have done.
The key figure behind Rally Estonia is its race director Urmo Aava, a former driver, who finished fifth at Rally NZ in 2008.
‘‘Having Rally Estonia was a long-term dream for me, my team and for Estonia,’’ Aava said.
‘‘In 2020 we achieved that, but before there was almost 10 years of hard work. ‘‘I’m really happy New Zealand is coming back on the calendar, because I did this rally twice. ‘‘There are really nice, technical roads, it’s a beautiful country and even though New Zealand is a small market and Estonia is a tiny one, I think both of the rallies deserve to be on the calendar.’’ While there are a number of similarities between Rally Estonia and Rally NZ, one difference is that the former benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic and Rally NZ lost out from it.
In 2020 Aava and his team were able to quickly organise their rally in only 63 days, as the WRC looked to find locations that could work within Covid restrictions, while New Zealand’s rally was cancelled because of the border situation.
‘‘Before Covid, our biggest weakness was our market, because our country is so small,’’ Aava said.
‘‘But during the Covid time our main weakness became our greatest strength, because small and innovative countries like Estonia can manoeuvre very fast and from the organisers, the Autosport Union, prime minister and even the president, it’s all a call away.
‘‘You can make a meeting for the next day and at the end of the week you have a decision, that’s the beauty of small countries,’’ he said.
WRC Promoter, the organisation which runs the championship, hope Rally NZ will attract visitors from Australia to watch the event, while Auckland Unlimited, an arm of Auckland Council has invested significantly, believing the rally give a boost to the local economy.
Aava said Rally Estonia has done just that in his country, financially and in terms of exposure.
‘‘We are hoping this year it will be around €10 million (NZ$16.4 million) for the economic impact,’’ he said.