Inside Rally

The 2013 Wales Rally GB (14-17 November) will feature a new home in North Wales, an exciting new competitive route plus a new ticketing offer – all reinforcing the legendary event’s position as one of the most challenging and attractive on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar.

The rally’s Headquarters and central Service Park will be located on a new site being prepared alongside the Toyota Plant in Deeside in Flintshire. The event’s ceremonial start will be hosted in Conwy on the Thursday evening with the finishing line celebrations in neighbouring Llandudno on Sunday afternoon.

Highlights will include:

Four-days of competitive action featuring a more compact route with the majority of the timed Special Stages set in the classic Welsh forests.
Night and family-friendly spectator stages reintroduced into the itinerary
Wider range of tickets at significantly lower prices catering for both traditional rally enthusiasts in the forests and new audiences featuring additional facilities.
“We have listened to what the teams and fans want in our determined efforts to create what we are confident will be not only one of the best rounds in the WRC but also a fitting finale to the entire 2013 world championship,” explained Andrew Coe, Chief Executive of rally organiser International Motor Sports.

“South Wales has provided us with a fantastic home for Wales Rally GB since 2000 but the move to North Wales has a number of significant advantages. Most importantly, perhaps, we are closer to the sport’s traditional heartlands, some iconic rally forests, as well as being within a short drive of some of the larger conurbations in the UK such as Liverpool, Manchester and the Midlands. Taking those factors into account, as well as our new ticket pricing policy which is designed to cater for both hardcore rally fans and a wider family audience, we are confident that the 2013 Wales Rally GB will be a highlight on the motor sport calendar.”

Wales Rally GB
WORLD RALLY PASS PRE-SALE OFFER

Full ticket details will be announced when the final route is confirmed but fans wishing to buy the full World Rally Pass which gives access to all four days of Special Stages plus the Service Park, can take advantage of a special ‘pre-sale’ offer from midday on Friday 3rd May.
Adult World Rally Passes will be priced at £99* (down from £130 in 2012) but will be available for just £90* if purchased via the official newly redesigned http://www.walesrallygb.com website or telephone hotline (0844 847 2251 or +44 161 425 7560 for overseas callers) before the end of June.

For those aged between nine and 15 years old, a child’s World Rally Pass will be available from 3rd May for just £1*. Access for those aged eight and under is free.

* Terms and conditions apply to all ticket prices.

It will be the fascinating stage of the Sata Rally Acores, the first rally of the 2013 season for Molly Taylor. Monday, April 22, has been a day of pre-event test, very challenging for the Australian fast female driver of United Business. Molly, with his English co-driver Seb Marshall, has run many kilometers of testing with the Citroen DS3 R3 with Yokohama tyres.

This is the debut rally in 2013, on Monday you have run the tests pre-event, how was your day?
Firstly it was a great feeling just to get back in the car after a long break. The conditions were quite difficult, wet, narrow and slippery with low visibility, but this was perfect for our preparation as it is likely that we will have these conditions on the rally.

For the first time you run with the Yokohama tyres, what’s your first impression?
This test was also our first opportunity to test the Yokohama tyres and we were impressed with their performance, especially in the tricky conditions. Because the roads are so narrow it is important to have a direct feeling with the car, which the Yokohama’s were able to provide. I feel that the car is working very well with the tyres and we have a good set-up going into the rally.

You’ve come to the Azores a few days ago, do you like the island and what is your impression about rally atmosphere that you breathe?
The island is stunning! The scenery is beautiful and everybody is very supportive of the rally and excited to be involved. I think the rally itself will be quite a challenge due to the nature of the roads which are very fast, narrow, steep and on quite a soft slippery surface. They are predicting a lot of rain for the weekend which will keep things interesting.

This rally will also be broadcast “live” by Eurosport, an opportunity to make known rallies more and more, do you consider important that the ERC has a promoter so active on television?
The media coverage provided by Eurosport is a crucial element for increasing the profile of rallying worldwide. The television coverage is one of the most effective ways to bring the action to a large audience and the live element really raises the excitement for the viewers. Back in Australia my family and friends will be able to watch me competing live, on an island on the other side of the world, its pretty incredible when you think about it like that!

The young Australian is ready for the first test of her 2013 Season, aware of the technical resources that have been made available and proud to participate in the European Rally Championship, in which she will be the protagonist in rallyes that have written the history of this beautiful and fascinating sport. In the afternoon of Thursday 25 April, with the dispute of the first special stage, the Coroa da Mata, until Sunday, April 28th, in the evening after more than 240 km of PS, with the dispute of the 19th and last special stage, the Tronqueira, Molly Taylor and Seb Marshall, will be able to prove their worth, with an implacable judge. The chronometer!

Next year’s Monte Carlo Rally will have a different Itinerary with the start shifting from Valence to Gap, Sebastien Ogier’s home town.

Release from the Automobile Club de Monaco reads:

“After seven consecutive years with a start from Valence in the Drôme Department, competitors of the 82nd Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo are going to renew with an itinerary from Monte-Carlo to Gap (Hautes-Alpes) before facing the wintry special stages of this department.”

“After two days of confrontation, competitors will join Monte-Carlo on Friday 17th January in order to finish in the night of Saturday 18 to Sunday 19 January by the traditional route in the Nice countryside.”

“Details concerning the special stages will be communicated later.”

“This new partition allows a renewal of the sporting stages and will open the route for a superb battle.”

The Cholmondeley Pageant of Power (www.cpop.co.uk; 14-16 June), the UK’s biggest celebration of power and speed, is delighted to announce an exciting new partnership with Wales Rally GB (14-17 November), the traditionally the final round of the FIA’s World Rally Championship (WRC).

Visitors to the 2013 Pageant will get to see a packed schedule of on-track rallying action, with past and present WRC stars plus British Rally Championship drivers demonstrating their talents on the 1.2-mile sprint circuit. A new dedicated Rally Village will also give members of the public the chance to get up close and personal with a wide collection of rally cars and stars, giving them a fantastic insight into one of the world’s most exciting and spectacular sports.

The rally machinery being showcased at Cholmondeley will include thoroughbred WRC cars currently competing in the 2013 Championship, together with entrants to this year’s British Rally Championship and a selection of the best historic rallying icons.

The special Wales Rally GB promotion results from a new partnership between the Pageant of Power organisers and International Motor Sports, the organisers of Wales Rally GB, and forms an integral part of the IMS ‘Road to Wales’ campaign.

“We delighted to be bringing some of the thrills of world class rallying to the Pageant of Power,” said Andrew Coe, Chief Executive of IMS. “It’s no secret that we are looking to refresh Wales Rally GB and have lots of exciting new plans not only aimed at benefiting the traditional hardcore rally fan but also to attract a wider audience. We want to show them what they’ve been missing and we’re confident that what’s being organised at the Pageant of Power will help to spread the word and thus significantly widen our event’s overall appeal.”

James Hall, Event Director for the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, said: “Rallying will be a central element to this year’s event, with dedicated track time for rally cars giving visitors the opportunity to witness some of the fastest, loudest and most exciting vehicles in the world. This is one of the only chances that the British public will have to see some of these vehicles anywhere in the UK this year. We can’t wait to see what the Wales Rally GB organisers have in mind for spectators, but we’re confident that it will add to the event’s ability to thrill and amaze.”

Now in its sixth year, the 2013 Pageant will take place on the Cholmondeley Estate in Cheshire from 14 to 16 June, celebrating power and performance in its many forms. Until 15 May, adult tickets start at just £22 for the Friday Preview Day, and £28 to see all the action on Saturday or Sunday. Under-16 tickets are also currently available free of charge.

A full event schedule and list of participants will be announced over the coming weeks.

To buy tickets or find further information, visit http://www.cpop.co.uk.