WRC finds a Saviour?
Someone finally appears to be taking an interest in the World Rally Championship! Following several months of prevarication and 'false dawns'; as a direct result of the untimely demise of the previous promoter of the series, North One Sport, who's contract was terminated when its parent company CSI went into administration at the beginning of the season.
The sport's ruling body, the FIA was quick to open a tender process to find a new promoter for the WRC in February and Bull Media House was one of three candidates that had been shortlisted by the FIA for this role, the other two being a South African partnership and Eurosport.
The WRC manufacturers, teams and stakeholders were told about the new deal during last weekend's Rally Finland. Citroen boss Yves Matton, whose team is sponsored by Red Bull, believes the move will be good for the sport.
"I think [Red Bull] Media House promoting the championship would be a good thing, but it would be different from Red Bull, the company sponsoring the Citroen team," said Matton.
"When Red Bull do something, they do it properly and they don't just want to make a good name with the promotion. If they choose to invest in the World Rally Championship then it's because they want to make a proper job, otherwise they would not even attempt to do it."
Strangely, the World Rally Championship website does not contain any reference to this alliance yet so we watch the space with great anticipation and the hope that this doesn't prove another 'false dawn.'
8th August, 2012