RALLY GB BACK FOR 2021, BUT IT COULD BE IN IRELAND
Rally GB has been given hope of returning to the World Rally Championship calendar for 2021 after being awarded a provisional August date, but it will require approximately £2million of local government funding.
Britain’s date on the 12-round schedule is pencilled in for 19-22 August, but its long-term backer the Welsh government has cooled its support for the event in recent years, and the economic impact of coronavirus could see the break clause in its contract triggered one year early. Meanwhile, a vigorous campaign has been fought to move the rally to Belfast, led by local rally kingpin Bobby Willis and North Antrim MP Ian Paisley.
With Paisley’s intervention, conversations have been ongoing between the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Executive but remain confidential.
Motorsport UK CEO Hugh Chambers said: “Motorsport UK is very grateful to see the United Kingdom is included in the 2021 WRC calendar and thus given more time to secure more funding for next year’s event which, in the current climate, is inevitably taking longer than we hoped to resolve. We hope to make an announcement as swiftly as possible, however as you might imagine, government time and resources are currently focused on many more urgent priorities.”
Croatia is on the schedule after narrowly missing out on an event in the revised 2020 calendar. Estonia’s efforts to revive the WRC’S 2020 season last month, when the event was given world championship status in the wake of the coronavirus-enforced reshuffle, are rewarded with a date pending confirmation of government support.
The provisional schedule remains Eurocentric, with flyaway rounds held back to the end of the year. WRC Promoter managing director Jona Siebel said: “In developing the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship calendar, we had to take pragmatic and strategic decisions on the continuing impact on global travel next year. We could not foresee any long-haul events being held in a safe manner for the public, or for our large group of travelling staff, suppliers, competitors and media, for the first five months of 2021. I’m confident the 12 rallies chosen for next year will not let us down.”
In order to preserve a full calendar, a reserve list of European events has been drawn up led by Turkey, Latvia, Belgium, Greece and Monza, with an additional flyaway possible in Argentina.
RALLY MONZA ADDED TO 2020 SCHEDULE
Meanwhile, this year’s WRC will conclude with a short additional round based at the Monza Rally Show – the ACI Monza Rally will be held on 4-6 December.
The Monza Rally Show, which was founded in 1978, is traditionally a star-studded event for the close season. Regular performers include Motogp superstar Valentino Rossi, who is also the most successful driver in its history with seven wins.
In order to meet the minimum distance for a WRC short-format schedule of 200km, the first and third days will be based within the Autodromo Nationale
di Monza, while the second will be spent on closed road stages in the local area.
“In the current situation, we’re developing new approaches and ACI Rally Monza Italia is a great illustration of this,” said FIA Rally Director Yves Matton. “This new concept could eventually help bring the WRC to countries or regions where new formats are required.”
Six-time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier (above) gave his qualified support for the addition of Monza to the schedule. “Well, I think we have had a short season so every event we can have is good news,” said the Toyota star. “Hopefully that will be confirmed and that will really happen because we see worldwide that the situation is not that easy right now.”