KIMI KIMI - Mundo Motorizado

PICS: McKLEIN.DE Rallying
back from the
brink after chaotic week
The WRC is on course to survive after a huge scare on the eve of the 2012 season. By DAVID EVANS
The World Rally Championship
has emerged from the most
turbulent week in its history,
but a possible £100m investment
has been lost and the FIA has been
left to foot the bill.
The astonishing chain of events
began just under a week ago, when
the FIA terminated its global
promoter North One Sport’s
contract after the London-based
THE HISTORY OF
NORTH ONE SPORT
The WRC’s outgoing
global promoter has
existed in some form
since the early 1980s.
8 autosport.com January 12 2012
1982
International Sportsworld
Communicators is formed
by Bernie Ecclestone to
produce and distribute
motorsport footage.
firm was found in breach of the
agreement. As AUTOSPORT closed
for press this week, Eurosport was
expected to step in and film and
distribute the WRC’s TV coverage,
starting from next week’s opening
round, the Monte Carlo Rally.
WRC Commission president
Jarmo Mahonen spent Monday
locked in meetings with Eurosport
officials in a bid to hammer out
FIA President Todt
is a fan of rallying
1996
ISC signs a 14-year deal
for broadcasting 18 FIA
championships, this is
reduced to the WRC and
the FIA’s Regional series.
the agreement that will deliver
television coverage and promotion
for the sport in 2012 and beyond.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
North One Sport’s problems began
in November when its parent
company Convers Sports Initiatives
went into administration, following
the arrest of CSI’s principal backer
Vladimir Antonov.
NOS was forced to seek a buyer
for the firm to continue to service
the FIA’s contract. First contact
with a Qatari investment bank was
made by NOS on December 23 and,
after NOS staff worked through the
holidays, the deal was planned for it
to be bought out. Contracts had
been expected to be signed for the
purchase of NOS today (Thursday),
before the deal fell apart.
A combative statement, issued
by the FIA on Sunday night, said:
“No firm offer to purchase NOS
has been presented to the FIA.
Not only has NOS failed to perform
2000
ISC is sold
to David
Richards.
2007
Richards sells ISC to
North One Television,
allowing him to focus
on the purchase of
Aston Martin from Ford.
in accordance with its contract, it
has also been unable to secure the
investment required to enable it
to deliver the championship.”
Speaking exclusively to
AUTOSPORT, NOS chief executive
officer Simon Long said: “The
facts of the matter are that a
formal offer was forthcoming and
documentation was produced in
support of a very significant plan
to transform the WRC. It was
communicated to the FIA that
there was this opportunity and this
offer on the table. But, for reasons
best known to them, it was not
deemed acceptable.”
When the FIA terminated NOS’s
global-promoter agreement, set to
run until 2020, there was nothing
for the potential investor to buy and
the deal, believed to be worth in
excess of £100 million, collapsed.
WHAT NOW?
While it is believed to be unhappy
at the short-notice period before
2009
ISC signs 10-year deal
to become the WRC’s
global promoter, and
later is re-named
North One Sports.