The debate over whether Australia or New Zealand should be hosting the Down Under round of the World Rally Championship has been done to death.
Here at Talk Motorsport, we’ve made it clear that while we’d love to have the WRC back in NZ, at the moment that’s not going to happen, and Kiwis just need to accept that they have to travel to Coffs Harbour to see the world’s best in action.
That’s all because of government and financial support, and while it appears nothing has really changed on that front, World Rally Champion, Sebastien Ogier, has just added a little fuel to the ‘get the WRC back in NZ’ fire.
Just this week, WRC Promoter, Oliver Ciesla, said that by the time Kenya and Japan are added to the championship, two of the classic rallies in Europe will probably need to be dumped.
To which Ogier responded …..
“For me I would not really agree with that. I will say that you need to keep the established rallies in the championship.
“I’m happy to have some new things sometimes, but not to lose too many things!
“I believe there is a compromise somewhere, maybe linking rallies together by alternating events such as Australia and New Zealand,” Ogier said.
Of course this has been tried before, back in the late 2000s when the countries alternated their events, with sponsorship from auto parts giant Repco.
In theory it’s a great idea, giving both countries a crack at the WRC every other year.
The reality is it just didn’t work, and mainly from a logistical point of view.
For either country, having a staff of full-time employees working on an event that only happens every two years created all sorts of problems – not the least of which was how to keep them busy. Servicing a sponsor also becomes problematic.
Yet for the obvious negative aspects, if Super Seb got his way, is there a chance it could actually work?
Imagine if Motor Sport New Zealand and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport worked together on their events.
Imagine if well-heeled major sponsors were found to support both rallies.
Imagine if each WRC rally Down Under was a round of both the NZ and Aussie championships, hence ensuring high entry numbers.
Imagine coercing the FIA to make the rallies compulsory rounds of the WRC2 championship. Maybe even include them as a double points-scoring round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship.
If all this was possible, could it actually work?
The simple answer is probably still no, yet if a talented team of people went to work with the sole goal of ensuring New Zealand and Australia had a round of the World Rally Championship for many years to come, then who knows what could be achieved.
As Henry Ford once said:
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
Nevertheless, I still prefer the option of both countries hosting a round every year, three weeks apart.
It’s been done before, and it worked a treat. Why not again?
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