Wrc Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2013

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Originally Posted by Prisoner Monkeys

So if I was organising a rally, the first thing I would do is find a nice, large, open area where spectators could arrange themselves and see plenty, kind of like Walters' Arena. I'd start the cars at one end and encourage the drivers to put on a bit of a show, but with none of the pressure of a timed run. The, when we get out into the forests, the serious business begins.

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The first thing you should do if you were organizing a rally, is find sponsors, which is nearly impossible (ask organizers). Only then you can start praying for local governments to give permission to your requests for using parts of road, forest... :) Then you have to find people who want to help in your organization etc. etc. etc... :) IF the people who always say "if I would be organizer", would really organize something, I bet there would be a lot of failures... Just because they look just at one (the good) side of everything. ;) There is always a good reason that something is in the rally, or that something is not in the rally... Key words are money and permission...

I'm aware of all of that, and I'm assumming that all of it has been done.

The point I'm trying to make is that the WRC needs to be accessible to fans, but the drivers shouldn't be wasting their time navigating the piddly little super-special stages that meander through towns at pedestrian speeds. By all means, have them so that fans can get close to the action, but don't make them a part of the rally route.

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Originally Posted by Prisoner Monkeys

I'm aware of all of that, and I'm assumming that all of it has been done.

The point I'm trying to make is that the WRC needs to be accessible to fans, but the drivers shouldn't be wasting their time navigating the piddly little super-special stages that meander through towns at pedestrian speeds. By all means, have them so that fans can get close to the action, but don't make them a part of the rally route.

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Thanks to that kind of little super-stages I got to know rallies as well as many rally fans, all stages (appart some Walesh ones) are accessible with little or no effort as far as I am concerned. And super-stage in Europian capital is one of the best ways to promote WRC.

I'm not saying they shouldn't be run - just that they shouldn't be counted as part of the overall rally distance. Just have them as a demonstration stage for the fans. I don't know about you, but I hate looking at a rally itenerary and seeing that the cars will make six passes over a two-kilometre super-special. It is really so necessary? Why not just have one or two passes over it, and add ten competitive kilometres to an actual stage.

Three months left for Rally of Portugal 2013, but there hasn’t been any news about an eventual II Fafe Rally Sprint. Four months before starting the Rally of Portugal 2012 we knew that Fafe Rally Sprint would be run. Nevertheless, there’s still hope to see the WRC in Fafe again this year. I know that ACP and Fafe Council are still negotiating right now a new edition of the event. Let's hope it turn out well and they reach an agreement :) .
I even guess that the cards of the future of the rally are being played ;) .

Let's hope so, it would be amazing to see the rally back in the north. It kinda belongs here.

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Originally Posted by Kielder

Three months left for Rally of Portugal 2013, but there hasn’t been any news about an eventual II Fafe Rally Sprint. Four months before starting the Rally of Portugal 2012 we knew that Fafe Rally Sprint would be run. Nevertheless, there’s still hope to see the WRC in Fafe again this year. I know that ACP and Fafe Council are still negotiating right now a new edition of the event. Let's hope it turn out well and they reach an agreement :) .
I even guess that the cards of the future of the rally are being played ;) .

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They´re are waiting for some teams to confirm their presence (eg: VW) and then they will announce the 2013 event. Probably some days after Monte, we'll have more news about this. For me personnaly it was the highlight of the year, in terms of rally, amazing atmosphere and what rally should be.

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Originally Posted by Riven

They´re are waiting for some teams to confirm their presence (eg: VW) and then they will announce the 2013 event. Probably some days after Monte, we'll have more news about this. For me personnaly it was the highlight of the year, in terms of rally, amazing atmosphere and what rally should be.

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You're absolutely right :) .

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Originally Posted by panteranegra

Let's hope so, it would be amazing to see the rally back in the north. It kinda belongs here.

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It will be, it's inevitable. There are several factors that keep each rally in the championship: sponsor/financial power, car market interest, organization, public attendance,...

Portugal doesn't have a strong financial power (specially nowadays) nor a strong car market (never did, it's a small country with low sale volumes and low buying power per capita)... and also failed in organization in the past (not only public control, but internal organization factors). That's also why Rally Portugal was discarded several years from the championship, along with the current rules that demand a near and central service area not far from the stages.
With the current location in far south (Algarve) the organization is improved, but now the public attendance is much, much lower...

And when you gather all the Pros and Cons.... that's a real problem for the Rally, because now it doesn't have a lot to offer to the sport. And with new markets/countries growing, it will be problematic to justify why this rally has a place in WRC instead of those. That's why year after year the organization have been trying to improve and innovate (doing the first super special inside Lisbon, etc...) It's a matter of showing something...

On the other end, FIA knows that the sport needs more public, fan attention and media marketing. And there's no place like Portugal to have a massive crowd in the background of images and videos, the only reason they are not having that is the current location. Last year they made the Fafe Rally Sprint single stage event in the classic/old Rally location and the attendance was absolutely massive... it was a test in several areas (attendance, organization and public behaviour), and overall it was a tremendous success. And all that without a big marketing for it. That day has shown that the fans will always be ready and the old passion is intact.
And their new mentality of allowing longer stages, a bit more towards "endurance" than "sprint", is a open door for the return of the rally to the North location.

Rally Portugal needs the classic/old location as much as the FIA needs it.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/420/fafethenandnow.jpg
(not my photo)


And all that was proven by interviews to Michelle Mouton (manager of the WRC) at the time of the Fafe Rally Sprint & Rally Portugal 2012:

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Q: Under the current FIA system of the FIA, do you think that this rally could ever go back to the North again?

Michele: I have to say I really hope so, our sport is a popular sport, and I think we have to stay close to the fans. Ok, when I say "close" I do not mean like the spectators used to be, standing close to the edge of the stages. You have to keep educating people today, but I really hope that the rally can go to the North of Portugal again, close to the people who love the sport.

in GPweek.com (magazine issue 147)

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http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/3...ntmichelle.jpg
(not my photo)

and later to Jarmo Mahonen:

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WRC's Commission President Jarmo Mahonen has explained the FIA’s discontent at many aspects of the traditional rounds of the world championship.[...] Regarding the position of other specific events, Mahonen said that Portugal has a very good rally but in the wrong place. “The FIA want the event back in the north of the country, and the organisers have said that they are ready to leave the Algarve.”

in GPweek.com (magazine issue 155)

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It won't be long until the Rally returns to the good old stages. :) Either it returns or it will parish of the calendar...

Fafe Rally Sprint 2013 confirmed! 6th of April

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