Rally GB Decision today
Discussion
Living in south Wales, very near to most of the stages I would miss this, but if it gives to camera loonies bad press then I hope it is taken away. Any good places in Durham for this type of thing?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3562617.stm
Rally future hangs in balance
The fate of one of Wales' biggest sporting events, the Wales Rally GB, will be decided at a meeting on Wednesday.
The rally - which was watched by around 200,000 spectators last year - could be removed from the list of World Championship events after a police crackdown on speeding competitors between stages.
A report will be presented to the sport's world governing body, the FIA, in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday.
FIA president Max Mosley has been in talks with Welsh Secretary Peter Hain - a motorsport fan - and South Wales chief constable Barbara Wilding.
Offences
The report, which looks into issues of road safety and the use of speed cameras, was called for after 17 rally drivers were fined or banned for offences committed at the 2002 event.
They included Britain's former world champions Colin McCrae and Richard Burns, who both had three penalty points imposed on their licences.
The convictions led the FIA to suggest that the roads of south Wales were unsuitable for a world championship event, and that it should be downgraded.
In December 2003 the rally was granted a provisional place on the 2004 world championship pending the road safety review into the event.
It came after the FIA decided not to carry through a threat to downgrade the event to non-championship status.
But it did decide that its place would be subject to it approving a report on the roads.
This report will be presented by the Motor Sports Association, the governing body in Britain, in Geneva.
The event - which was being staged in Wales for the third successive year in 2003 - brought an estimated £15m to the local economy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3562617.stm
Rally future hangs in balance
The fate of one of Wales' biggest sporting events, the Wales Rally GB, will be decided at a meeting on Wednesday.
The rally - which was watched by around 200,000 spectators last year - could be removed from the list of World Championship events after a police crackdown on speeding competitors between stages.
A report will be presented to the sport's world governing body, the FIA, in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday.
FIA president Max Mosley has been in talks with Welsh Secretary Peter Hain - a motorsport fan - and South Wales chief constable Barbara Wilding.
Offences
The report, which looks into issues of road safety and the use of speed cameras, was called for after 17 rally drivers were fined or banned for offences committed at the 2002 event.
They included Britain's former world champions Colin McCrae and Richard Burns, who both had three penalty points imposed on their licences.
The convictions led the FIA to suggest that the roads of south Wales were unsuitable for a world championship event, and that it should be downgraded.
In December 2003 the rally was granted a provisional place on the 2004 world championship pending the road safety review into the event.
It came after the FIA decided not to carry through a threat to downgrade the event to non-championship status.
But it did decide that its place would be subject to it approving a report on the roads.
This report will be presented by the Motor Sports Association, the governing body in Britain, in Geneva.
The event - which was being staged in Wales for the third successive year in 2003 - brought an estimated £15m to the local economy.
SOME drivers commited offences...they were punished...that should be the end of it! Last year tens of thousands of women were caught by cameras, so will they ban the 'school run'?, no. Tens of thousands got caught speeding in tempory limits on motorways but will they stop digging up the roads? no. If individuals commit offences then they, and they alone should be punished, not the hundreds of thousands of Rally fans in this country, and not the locals who need the annual injection of cash. M.
I'll be interested to see what the FIA report says - after all, many of the countries hosting WRC have speed checks etc - Scandinavia is particularly bad for this, as you'd expect.
I'm just waiting to see if the FIA reveals a significant factor that sets the sheep shaggers apart from the elk botherers.
Finally, as said above, if Wales loses the rally then it must be on the heads of the speed nazis & I hope they get all that's coming to them, at a time when south Wales is struggling economically and can't afford to turn away a £15M annual bonanza.
I'm just waiting to see if the FIA reveals a significant factor that sets the sheep shaggers apart from the elk botherers.
Finally, as said above, if Wales loses the rally then it must be on the heads of the speed nazis & I hope they get all that's coming to them, at a time when south Wales is struggling economically and can't afford to turn away a £15M annual bonanza.
rospa said:
I only hope that they do move it and that this gets TPTB thinking about their so-called strategy.
Agreed. As much as I enjoy watching the rally I'm all in favour of anything that brings the absurd use of speed cameras and talivans into the public eye. Not to mention the thought of them loosing money because of their precious cameras
CarZee said:
Finally, as said above, if Wales loses the rally then it must be on the heads of the speed nazis & I hope they get all that's coming to them, at a time when south Wales is struggling economically and can't afford to turn away a £15M annual bonanza.
To be honest I hope the outcome is that the Rally is held elsewhere. I am sure the Isle Of Man would love to host it - or perhaps somewhere in the Highlands of Scotland. In any event - a £15M loss is small beer but will be missed I'm sure. The anti-car mob would see the Rally being cancelled as a victory anyway...but local VOTERS missing out on the money will very likely voice their displeasure...and a good thing too.
I hope they drop Wales in the pooh, don't get me wrong I used to go there lots for weekends I love the place. Now I never do out of principle.
I think this will highlight the fact the some of the worlds best drivers were not driving dangerously, (on closed off sections of public road, where punters were sent other routes, I hasten to add!) it'll be another nail in the coffin for the partnerships.
Kielder will do nicely or Scotland maybe
Why don't they drop it for a year completely?
I think this will highlight the fact the some of the worlds best drivers were not driving dangerously, (on closed off sections of public road, where punters were sent other routes, I hasten to add!) it'll be another nail in the coffin for the partnerships.
Kielder will do nicely or Scotland maybe
Why don't they drop it for a year completely?
roop said:
My point too. Why did it move from Cheltenham / Special Stages / Oulton Park / Kielder / Grizedale etc...? It used to be all over. Why didn't they call it the Rally of Wales when they moved it all out there...?
size13 said:
Why don't they hold the rally in England and Scotland then?
Even came to a very foggy Silverstone one year..
The FIAs concern about the speed cameras was nothing to do with the drivers being caught as far as I know.
Their view was that the alledged policy is that scameras are only located in dangerous places. There were lots of scamears out for the rally, therefore by definition the roads are dangerous.
So the FIA were questioning whether they should be bringing additional traffic to an area where the roads were so dangerous.
Their view was that the alledged policy is that scameras are only located in dangerous places. There were lots of scamears out for the rally, therefore by definition the roads are dangerous.
So the FIA were questioning whether they should be bringing additional traffic to an area where the roads were so dangerous.
The point is that it is only a matter of up or downgrading an existing rally in Britain to WRC status. The rally will always be here but will not necesarily be such a big event. There are plenty of good rallies in this country, not all are appropriate for the WRC from a purely logistical point of view.
I would welcome the removal of WRC status only to point out to the numpties that a clampdown always has unintentional consequences. I kind of like having Park Ferme a couple of hundred yards from my front door...
I would welcome the removal of WRC status only to point out to the numpties that a clampdown always has unintentional consequences. I kind of like having Park Ferme a couple of hundred yards from my front door...
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff