Finally it is confirmed: There will be a World Rally Championship (WRC) round in Norway 15-18 February 2007. The international governing body of motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), has awarded Norway a round in the WRC in its World Council meeting in Paris on 5 July. Rally Norway, which has worked on the WRC candidacy campaign since 2001, celebrated the announcement as soon as it was made. Rally Norway will form half of the WRC’s only pair of snow events, in conjunction with the Swedish WRC round.
”At last we have succeeded. This is fantastic news for sports fans as well as service and tourist businesses in Norway. We expect at least 100,000 spectators from Norway and abroad. It will be the largest public event in Norway since the Olympic Games in 1994,” said Rally Norway’s managing director, Even Wiger.
Roar Forgaard, President of the Norwegian Automobile Sport Association (NBF) was the first to receive the message from the FIA in Paris. He believes the decision rewards the confidence shown in everyone who has had an input in rallying and in particular the WRC candidacy process in the last few years.
”This is a huge boost for motorsport in Norway, especially for all the volunteers who made a huge contribution in this year’s candidate event, and whom we totally depend upon in order to carry out a WRC round of the highest standard next year. It also means that motorsport in general will gain a lot of attention in the immediate future, which will have a positive effect on recruitment,” said a satisfied Forgaard.
High spirits
There were high spirits among the Rally Norway delegation in Paris when the good news came from the FIA. Ten individuals representing the organising committee were present to receive the FIA official announcement and celebrate the success of their application.
”Even though we know our candidate event in February 2006 was a good ‘application’, we were up against several other very strong candidates. We were unbelievably tense and excited. It is wonderful to hear that we were selected for the WRC calendar and we owe it to the 4000 volunteers who contributed such an impressive personal effort to make the candidate event a success,” said Rally Norway top executive Even Wiger.
Arena Innlandet
From the start / finish in Hamar and with the Viking ship stadium as a unique indoors Service Park, the special stages will run Northeast of Oslo, the capital of Norway, from the mountainous region of Lillehammer in the north to the forests of Kongsvinger in the south. This should mean increased activity and public attendance across large areas of the Norwegian region referred to as Innlandet (non coastal areas in Southern Norway) throughout the days of the rally. By comparison, Finland has some 500.000 spectators at its WRC event each year and Sweden receives 300.000.
Marketing value of millions of Norwegian kroner
Not since the Winter Olympic Games in 1994 has Norway and the Innlandet region had such a large, international sporting event. The rallies of the WRC take place in a wide range of countries across the world. Not only do they draw a large spectator audience to differing arenas and special stages, but rally is also the world’s fastest growing TV sport. On average each WRC round is watched by 50 million television viewers globally and by more than 800 million in total during the course of the year. This gives organising nations a valuable profiling opportunity, something from which the tourism economy and Norwegian products and services sold internationally can benefit. The authorities in Wales, where the Great Britain WRC round is hosted, estimates the sponsorship value for the regional economy is GBP 40 million, approximately 65 million Euros.
Focus on traffic safety and community benefits
For the Innlandet region the WRC circus coming to town means increased activity in a variety of economic areas. Not only restaurant and accommodation businesses, but also a string of other service enterprises which are required to execute such a large spectator event can benefit. In combination with the focus on road safety, the positive effects on the local community are the foundation for the support Rally Norway has received at a political level: locally, regionally and nationally with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg at the forefront of the governmental support campaign. The economic benefits of hosting a WRC round are estimated to reach millions of kroner.
Public party: ”Best Rally Ever”
Remembering the Olympic atmosphere from Lillehammer in 1994, Rally Norway will be measuring itself on the quality of the ”public party” (folkefest) it can create. In true Olympic spirit, Rally Norway aims one day to be the ”Best Rally Ever”. That is how the Norwegian WRC round wants to stand out in order to attract spectators and sponsors, and function as a ”pull” for economic development in the Innlandet region. The first goal is to attract at least 100,000 spectators from Norway and abroad. These will contribute millions more in accommodation, eating, transport and purchase of various tourist products and services.
Managing Director Even Wiger, tel +47 91 31 36 45,
Manager, Sales and Communication, Jim Carlsen, tel +47 93 41 00 00,
Press Officer, Vidar Julien, tel +47 95 93 31 93,
Norsk
