RALLY AUSTRALIA BOSSES URGED TO SWITCH BASE
Lack of spectators angers leading wrc players
The World Rally Championship departed Coffs Harbour with the teams once again calling for Rally Australia to find a new home.
The New South Wales host town is one of the most controversial of the season, with the teams angered at the lack of fans for what was a thrilling finale to this year.
Toyota team principal Tommi Makinen said: “What are we doing here? This is not the right place. We come here to the middle of nowhere and there is nobody watching. We have incredible, incredible end to the year, but no atmosphere.
“I don’t understand this. When I was competing we were in Australia in Perth and almost every year we had the rally voted as the best. But not this rally.
“I met some fans who had come from Brisbane, that is four-hour drive up the road and they say there’s nothing, no promotion all the way from there. The championship has been decided with nobody watching – this is maybe the reason we have to have the final round in Europe.”
Year on year, there are demands for the event to head south to Sydney, but Rally Australia clerk of the course Wayne Kenny told Motorsport News he could put that one to bed.
Kenny said: “I’ve been down there for four days driving around trying to get enough distance. From a possible base in western Sydney, and we’re talking 20 miles out of the city centre [for the base] and there’s just not enough mileage.
“In the end I couldn’t even get 200 miles [of stages] out of a possible route. I had a look at it, tried to make it work and it’s just not viable at the moment.
“You might get away with a superspecial, but we’ve already tried that three times and failed each time for environmental reasons.”
WRC Promoter is keen to move away from Coffs Harbour, but it remains understanding of the event’s plight in trying to find a new home – and is willing to accept a Coffs-based Rally Australia rather than no event down under.