Rally Ireland has passed the World Rally Championship inspection process and is now a step closer to securing a round of the World Championship (WRC) from next year.
A positive report from the FIA observers who monitored the Rally Ireland event in the north west in March concluded that Ireland has the capability to host a World Rally Championship event.
The FIA observers reviewed all sporting, safety, medical, media and marketing elements of the 700km event run in the North West.
Rally Ireland is a cross border initiative supported by both Governments and if Rally Ireland is successful in securing a round of the WRC, it will create the largest sporting event on the island of Ireland generating €145 million over a five year period.
However, Rally Ireland officials cautioned that, despite the event passing this major test, five other countries were also in contention for WRC status.
This will require an ongoing lobbying campaign by all parties supporting the Irish bid to ensure that Rally Ireland is included in the 2007/2008 WRC calendar scheduled to be announced in July after a FIA meeting in Paris.
