I’ve previously discussed what happens to old, solid events that suddenly stand without money when financers back of because of the recent calendar changes by the FIA. After Norway and Sweden it now seems that yet another organiser has ran into problems, the Wales Rally GB. Despite a contract running to 2011, the local government (WAG) will draw back their 2,2M pound sponsorship, because of the events’ lack of WRC status in 2010.

2,2 million pounds are really a big amount of money, so now it seems like the organisers are in a real hurry. The event is planned to run in October – and to be presented to the press and public already at the end of April. According to BBC, organisers plan to take legal action against the government, but that can of course be quite time consuming and the question is now wether the Wales Rally GB can be run this year?

For sure, time will show what happens, but until then it’s interesting to note the big difference in economy between different events. If the Swedish Rally had 2,2M pounds from the goverment each year – the budget of the event would be doubled according to the figures I’ve got. That would probably be quite a boost to quality, pricings and experience – so think of that difference next time you visit a WRC rally…

Read the BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8000216.stm