Rally Ireland has announced that November’s round of the prestigious World Rally Championship (WRC) will take to the roads of the north western counties following a detailed study requested by the sports global governing body to examine the feasibility of hosting the event on the east coast.
'We carried out a very rigorous comparative study covering all elements involved in hosting a World Championship round, and we can now confirm that the northwest came out as the best venue,' said promoter Seán O’Connor.
A new feature of the cross-border event, which is expected to draw 150,000 spectators, will be the introduction of a Super Special Stage, where competitors race head to head, and which will give spectators an opportunity to see all the action up close.
Rally Ireland have confirmed that they are at advanced stages of discussion with RTÉ regarding prime-time live TV coverage of this, which will be the opening stage of the WRC round in Ireland.
Whilst the detailed route has yet to be confirmed, Rally Ireland has stated that Sligo, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Roscommon, Cavan and Donegal are under consideration as part of the 1,400 kilometre route.
It is anticipated that final sign-off on the route should be secured from the FIA, the sport’s governing body, within the next month.
The event will see the best rally drivers in the world compete on the island for the first time, including defending champion Sebastian Loeb (France), Marcus Gronholm (Finland), Dani Sordo (Spain) and Petter Solberg (Norway).
With entry numbers capped at 90 cars due to the limited number of satellite timing tracking devices capable of being monitored, competition amongst drivers north and south is likely to be fierce for the remaining slots on the entry list.
Independent research carried out last year by the University of Ulster estimated the economic impact of a WRC round to be €46 million and Rally Ireland are confident that this figure will be exceeded.
The Rally starts on Thursday 15 November with the Super Special Stage and will finish on Sunday 18 November.
