TICKET BOOM FOR WALES RALLY GB
BRITISH SPECTATORS FLOCK BACK TO UK’S FLAGSHIP EVENT
Wales Rally GB is shaping up to be one of the busiest in history with pre-event ticket sales rocketing by 98.5% and roads tuned and worked to perfection.
British fans have warmed to the combination of a Liverpool start, Llandudno service and some of the best gravel roads in the world to deliver sell-out stages ahead of next month’s event.
Clerk of the course Iain Campbell told Motorsport News: “We drove the route last week and the stages are in beautiful condition. Everything is coming together for what will be a fantastic event.”
Route innovations and returning heroes have made next month’s Wales Rally GB an unmissable event, according to Motorsport UK boss Hugh Chambers.
Year-on-year ticket sales are up 98.5% this week as fans get in early to bag their tickets for the British round of the World Rally Championship.
Based out of Liverpool and serviced in Llandudno for the first time, Chambers says those changes have fired the imagination of fans.
Kris Meeke will be back after missing last year’s event and there’s the chance to see Elfyn Evans return to WRC action after his back injury in the summer. Fan favourite and 2003 champion Petter Solberg will also wave goodbye to the end of his professional driving career.
Delighted at the unprecedented hike in ticket sales from last year, Chambers told Motorsport News: “The latest incarnation of the World Rally Championship is really packing in the crowds and we are excited by the way our tickets are selling – indeed, actually selling out in some cases.
“Internally, we have worked hard introducing a new World Apart brand plus a revised ticketing strategy, while externally the World Rally Championship has probably not been such a huge draw since the Group B era.
“Indeed, the latest generation of cars is the fastest the sport has ever seen and, with the world’s top drivers spread across the top four teams, they are producing some incredibly close competition. What’s more, we have two potential home winners in Kris Meeke and Elfyn Evans plus, of course, the much-loved Petter Solberg making his farewell
WRC appearance. It all adds up to a Wales Rally GB no-one wants to miss.”
Grandstand tickets are sold out for Oulton Park and there are no more hospitality tickets to be bought at Brenig or Colwyn Bay with Sweet Lamb almost a sell-out too.
Chambers continued: “As a result of this strong demand, we are now focusing most of our marketing efforts on promoting spectator-friendly venues such as Oulton Park and Sweet Lamb – those which are best placed to handle large numbers of visitors. We are monitoring sales daily and are expecting more categories to sell out in the coming days. The advice we are giving all those thinking of coming is to buy now.”
Mindful of overflowing car parks and disgruntled fans being denied access to stages even when they have a valid ticket, the organisers of Britain’s round of the WRC
have plotted the route carefully to offer as much variation in each of the three days as possible.
Having just completed his latest inspection of the route, clerk of the course Iain Campbell says there’s plenty of variety and opportunity for fans on the October 3-6 event.
“The stages are in beautiful condition,” said Campbell.
“But starting from the beginning, Thursday night’s stage in Oulton Park is really impressive. As a spectator, you’re going to be able to see lots of action from one place, pretty much the whole stage. Starting at just after seven in the evening, it’ll be dusk and really atmospheric.
“In the forests, so many of the stages stand out. Elsi opens Friday morning and has to be probably the most technical stage on the route – anybody whose notes aren’t absolutely perfect in there will probably find themselves losing time.
“Coming out of there, we have the first section of closed public roads, linking the two Penmachno stages. Dyfnant is back to its full length after running as the live TV stage last year and from there we go to Aberhirnant, which is so quick – it’s likely to be the fastest stage of the event. Slate Mountain’s back again and this year offers fans the chance to watch the cars in action before heading down a fairly steep hill to the car park where they can watch the crews working on the cars in a technical zone.”
Saturday’s mid-wales roads provide the mainstay of the action with the three classics, Dyfi, Myherin and Sweet
Lamb Hafren split by the usual Newtown tyre fitting zone.
“What can you say about those roads?” said Campbell, “they are what they are and that’s just perfect. Dyfi was looking absolutely magic at its full length. There are some sections which have been clear-felled of trees and offer spectacular views. Myherin’s the jewel in the crown, especially with the return of those amazing hairpins – the section known locally as Pikes Peak – at the end of the stage. Sweet Lamb offers pretty much non-stop action with cars on view from anywhere in the bowl for more than a minute at a time. And Hafren’s as tricky as ever with surface and grip level changes.”
Sunday takes the crews back to a Brenig powerstage – scene of M-sport’s finest hour two years ago, where Evans won the rally, Sebastien Ogier won the drivers’ title and secured the makes’ crown for the Cumbrian firm. Alwen and the Great Orme are the other stages on the final day, with the all-asphalt headland test running in the conventional direction, starting from the town and heading anti-clockwise around the Orme.
“The Orme’s a great place to go up and watch and then come down for the podium celebrations,” added Campbell. “Llandudno’s looking really good; there’s going to be a fantastic buzz about the place with service right in the centre of the town. Looking over the stages last week was a real treat to see just how good the route is and what a fantastic sporting challenge [it will be] right from Oulton Park on Thursday evening all the way through to that tricky asphalt section at the end of Brenig on Sunday afternoon.”