Circuit of Ireland Rally 2015

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Kris Meeke said: “The Circuit of Ireland is a fantastic event on some of the best tarmac roads in the world.* It’s great that it’s now part of the ERC, and I may be biased but I would dearly love to see it included in the WRC as I believe it could easily carry itself.”

[satnav]

It was MERC, not APRC. Stage-wise Ireland may be great, but for spectators it's a difficult and dangerous event in my opinion. Also competition-wise it's not a great value for ERC, (almost) no local drivers doing the event.

Looking at your post you state that in your opinion it's a difficult and dangerous event for spectators , why ?

[John Williams]

Looking at your post you state that in your opinion it's a difficult and dangerous event for spectators , why ?

The most dangerous thing about COI is drinking too much Guinness the night before.

It's also probably the easiest event ever to spectate on.

[WRCKE]

The most dangerous thing about COI is drinking too much Guinness the night before.

It's also probably the easiest event ever to spectate on.

you can miss some steps than :-) :-)

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Plenty of spectator-friendly stages in the towns announced:

'This year’s Circuit of Ireland Rally will include two of the fans’ favourite tests – the spectator stages in Newtownards and Lisburn.

The Newtownards stage will go live on Friday 3 April, while the action switches to the streets of Lisburn on Saturday 4 April. The final stage of the event will be a Power Stage at Lagan Valley Island in Lisburn. While full details of the route have yet to be made public, fans will first see the ERC stars in action on the Qualifying Stage, based at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Ballycultra Village on Thursday 2 April. This will be followed by a ceremonial start at Belfast City Hall that evening.

Those wishing to see the cars close up and chat to the drivers should head to the regroups, which will be in Downpatrick on the Friday and Banbridge and Hillsborough Castle on the Saturday. The rally will finish back in Belfast on the evening of Saturday 4 April, with the winner crowned at Belfast’s Titanic Quarter, the site of the Rally HQ and Service Park.'

[Fast Eddie WRC]

First map:

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Regarding safety on this event and other UK rallies, the following open letter to spectators has been issued by the UK MSA:

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE MSA CHIEF EXECUTIVE 19 FEB 2015

This weekend marks the second anniversary of the tragic death of a spectator on the Snowman Rally, and of course on the Jim Clark Rally in 2014 three more spectators lost their lives in equally tragic circumstances.

As a result the Scottish Government, following an emergency debate in the Scottish Parliament, commissioned a major review of safety on stage rallies. This Scottish Government Motorsport Event Safety Review published its final report in January, and the MSA has since gone on record confirming its commitment to the implementation of the report’s recommendations, not only in Scotland but throughout the UK.

Clearly, there is going to be a period of transition while everyone concerned works as hard as possible to introduce the recommended changes. In the interim, I need to remind all spectators of the fact that they are ultimately responsible for their own personal safety.

I say this because despite these well-publicised tragedies, and despite the sport being well aware of the changes being brought about by the Scottish Review, I am astonished and dismayed that an irresponsible minority – and I stress minority – of spectators continue to display a wanton disregard for their own personal well-being.

This was brought home to me when viewing YouTube clips of last weekend’s Wyedean Forest Rally, and also from the truly shocking photograph from the same rally in yesterday’s Motorsport News (18 February, page 34) of a ‘spectator’ lying flat on the ground on the edge of the forest track, apparently taking a photograph extremely close to a competing vehicle.

This behaviour not only shows a complete disregard for personal safety but in addition places other spectators, officials and competing crews in danger. It also undermines the considerable efforts of the dedicated rally organisers, officials and marshals, who do all they can to ensure that events run as safely as possible.

The MSA is currently working on a daily basis with all other stakeholders in rallying, particularly the Forestry Commission, and I can confirm from discussions within the last few days that unless these few idiotic spectators concerned change their attitude immediately and behave responsibly, there will be no future for stage rallying in the UK. I am not talking about next year, or the year after; I am talking about right now. Even in the meantime, this sort of behaviour will mean that stages are cancelled and rallies disrupted or even stopped.

Please, for the sake of rallying in the UK, can all spectators take full responsibility not only for ensuring their own personal safety but also the future of the sport we all love.

Yours in motor sport,

Rob Jones
CHIEF EXECUTIVE

[Nelly]

Motorsport news in UK saying this morning that Skoda want to debut R5 on the circuit, just waiting FIA approval!

[Mirek]

That would be a real surprise for me but for sure it would be great if true. I have doubts though.

[liposh]

Yesterday in Czech TV in "Svet motoru" magazine they said Skoda want to debut their R5 in middle of April (so probably during Rally Sumava) ...but we will see.