01 cover sbi 152.indd - FIFA/CIES International University Network

MOTORSPORT:
RALLY
l’Automobile (FIA) seems satisfied
with ISC’s trajectory since, in
February this year, it was reappointed
as global promoter of
WRC until the end of 2020.
“With our new powers as global
promoter we now set the calendar.
We’ve just signed a five year deal
with Rally Finland and others will
follow shortly,” says Duncanson.
Freedom trail
ISC has given promoters more
creative freedom when it comes to
the format of races.
“We need to make more of
a virtue of the sheer variety of
experience and geographical reach
which WRC can offer,” says Long.
“By allowing organisers more
flexibilty over the make-up of their
event we anticipate being able to
Ordinary cars... extraordinary action - Getty Images Sport
connect with a wider landscape of
communities, places and fans. The
prospect of mixed surfaces will
only add to the unpredictability and
challenge which characterises the
sport of rallying.”
This particular opening up of
the calendar may be something
that the WRC has learned from
its increasingly successful rival
series, the Intercontinental Rally
Challenge (IRC) which fans forums
praise for its geographical range,
varied calendar and roughly 50-50
mix of asphalt and gravel rallies.
For the IRC, 2009 certainly
kicked off with a bang with the
legendary Monte Carlo Rally, an
emblematic event on the world
sporting calendar and the most
prestigious of all rallies. Monte-Carlo
made the switch from the WRC to
the IRC this year and will stay with
IRC for 2010, again providing a
buzz to start the season.
Since its inception in 2007, IRC
has attracted a lot of attention not
only from the public, but from rally
promoters and car manufacturers
(it now has seven on board).
Manufacturers like the series,
in part because of the number of
rallies that are run per season (10
in 2009 and 12 for 2010) and in
part because the series is less costly
for them and for their drivers.
Organisers like it because
the IRC is less restrictive than
the WRC and organisers,
manufacturers and fans alike say
the series retains the spirit of rally,
harking back to what they perceive
as the ‘good old days.’
The 2009 IRC calendar
continued the tried and trusted
formula of combining well-known
classic rallies with new events in
emerging markets and next year
will see new rallies in Argentina,
Sardinia and Cyprus for the season
finale. These geographical changes
reflect the increasing prominence
of the IRC in world motorsport
after a successful and highly
competitive 2009 season.
For Geraldine Filiol, director
general of Eurosport Events which
created, owns and promotes the
IRC, the series is a key plank of the
company’s events portfolio.
“We created the series because
we saw a gap in the market, an
opportunity to create a property to
showcase and promote a number
of rallies that were lacking in
exposure. We created an umbrella
brand and, through its promotion
on Eurosport and elsewhere,
we have healthy, growing,
commercially successful and
profitable series.”
Next year will be season four
for the IRC and it has grown to
the point where Eurosport is now
talking to potential title sponsors.
Up until now, each individual rally
promoter has had local sponsors,
Filiol explains, but the series has
not had a main partner.
“We are now in a position where
we are offering a mature, attractive
property, with three seasons of
growth and exposure behind it.”
With Eurosport Events as
its owner and promoter, a high
quality of TV coverage and wide
exposure were never in doubt. But
2009 has seen a clear step change
in innovation in terms of IRC
broadcast and production.
Broadcast innovation
“We have the helicopter camera,
the on-board cameras and this
year we introduced live split times
for each stage, as you would get
in skiing. That means the viewer
really has all the information to go
with what they are seeing unfold.
This year we have also produced
more live coverage than ever
before, with multiple stages
covered live at three events in
our calendar. Next year, five or six
events will benefit from this live
coverage of stages.”
And the 2010 Calendar will also
see Eurosport providing a world
premier with fully live coverage of
all 14 stages of the Rally of Monte-
Carlo, a feat so-far unprecedented
in rally coverage.
Filiol says that for Eurosport
as promoters, the end game is to
see IRC distributed worldwide via
broadcast and online platforms,
beyond Eurosport itself.
This happens with another
Eurosport property, the FIA WTCC.
Filiol is confident that that scenario
is not too far off.
“In just three seasons, we have
created a big buzz around our brand
and around the series.
“That has driven attendances
and, of course, TV viewing and a
wider exposure. It has really been a
truly virtuous circle.”
IRC viewing
Year Events Total Reach (Different European viewers)
2008 10 16.2 million
2009 10 (so far this year) 25 million
SportBusiness International • No.152 • 12.09 57