WRC Season ArchiveRally 

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prisonermonkeys
North One Sport will apparently close down on Monday, with Eurosport becoming the sport's promoter and broadcaster.
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That is good in that I'll be able to watch on tv again but bad because Eurosports coverage of any sport is terrible, it will all be in Spanish or French with Carlton Kirby talking through it.
 
FROM iRALLY


The FIA has just issued the following media release which given the importance of the story, we give in full: Last Friday the FIA served notice to terminate its contract with North One Sport, the Promoter of the FIA World Rally Championship. The FIA sought urgent unequivocal assurances from NOS that it could fulfil its contractual obligations and deliver the promotion of the upcoming Rally Monte Carlo and the Championship for 2012 and for the future. It is with regret and disappointment that no such assurance has been given to the FIA, and therefore today the FIA has been driven to terminate its contract with NOS. NOS has conspicuously failed to deliver its contractual obligations and is in fundamental breach of contract. Following the recent unforeseen circumstances which led to Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI) the parent company being placed into administration in November 2011, the FIA has fully supported and co-operated with both NOS and the administrators of the parent company CSI in their efforts to secure a purchaser. Contrary to press speculation however, no firm offer to purchase NOS has been presented to the FIA during this period but only numerous non-binding expressions of interest subject to due diligence. The FIA has been notified of at least 7 expressions of interest, but none have come to fruition. The FIA has given time and support to all the parties concerned to find the right solutions. Regrettably however, not only has NOS failed to perform in accordance with its contract, it has also been unable to secure the essential investment required to enable it to deliver the Championship. This has placed the FIA in an unprecedented situation just 10 days before Rally Monte Carlo in that the FIA will now have to take urgent action to secure the staging of the Championship. The Fédération is now working tirelessly to ensure the WRC goes ahead as fully as planned to mitigate the consequences of the breach of NOS. At the start of the 2012 season, the FIA wishes to take this opportunity to reassure all its stakeholders - the Automobile Club de Monaco and Rally Monte Carlo which makes a welcome return as the opening round of the Championship, the other vital commercial partners, Rally Organisers, the Manufacturers and Teams, and the vast loyal worldwide fan base - of its full on-going commitment to the World Rally Championship and its determination to see 2012 take place as planned. The FIA has now launched urgent top level discussions with several partners and suppliers to guarantee the key organisational and promotional components of the Championships, including timing and tracking, TV production and distribution, as well as sponsorship servicing are put in place. The FIA is fully confident that it will deliver a safe, successful and exciting 2012 season, adding that in the current context, and while there are still on-going discussions, it would not be appropriate for the Fédération to discuss these matters publicly until a final solution has been reached.
 
FROM iRALLY:

Timing confirmed for Monte Carlo

iRally can report that the crucial timing and safety tracking needed for Rallye Monte-Carlo will be in place for the event. Stage One Technology, whose team has provided the service to the Championship for over 10 years, will be at Monte Carlo. Their equipment leaves for Valence tomorrow morning. Stage One Technology's contract was with North One Sport, the global promoter, not with the FIA or the event. Talks have been going on since early this morning, and a deal has been reached to provide the cover for Monte Carlo. Managing Director Simon de Banke says the important thing now is to get on with the job: "I'm pleased to say Stage One Technology has agreed a practical solution with the FIA this morning, to cover the timing and safety tracking for Rallye Monte Carlo." "With so little time, clearly Monte Carlo is our most immediate priority, but ultimately we are confident we will find a workable deal for the entire season." "The failure of NOS is a devastating blow for us, leaving us with unpaid bills and future commitments way in excess of £1m. We have been funding the operation for the last few months, and have spent the last six weeks supporting NOS while they tried to find a buyer. Sadly, I think they just ran out of time, and we feel terrible for the staff of NOS, some of whom we've worked with for over ten years." "While this has been a painful period, we have no intention to bail out now. Stage One Technology and our parent company de Banke Group are still strong, and we're all just looking forward to getting back to work and welcoming Rallye Monte Carlo back to the championship, then focusing on supporting the future of WRC." "I have to commend my amazing team of passionate and professional people, who have diligently gone about their business without fuss or wavering support during what has been an extremely difficult time. These guys and girls are among the unsung heroes of WRC, quietly making it all happen behind the scenes, without spotlight or glory. I'm delighted for them, that things look more promising."
 
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Would love to see the Black livery back in 2012, that's if we see any WRC machines at all...
 
From iRally:

IT'S EUROSPORT...

The deal has still to be formalised or signed, let alone announced, but iRally understands a 3-year deal has been agreed between the FIA and Eurosport whereby the television channel becomes both the producer of the WRC TV product, and the global promoter of the World Rally Championship.

The deal has been mooted since the first problems began to emerge about Vladimir Antonov's Convers Sports Initiatives, which controlled North One Sport. CSI went into administration in November.

Eurosport Events is responsible for the FIA World Touring Car Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Its General Manager is Italian Marcello Lotti, who's a former rally co-driver. Under Lotti, the IRC Series provided a new way to promote rally and scored some notable firsts, including televising all but one of last year's Monte Carlo Stages.

Quite what Eurosport will be able to achieve this year with the 80th Rallye Monte Carlo due to get under way in a week's time is anyone's guess. The important thing is that a deal has been done, with an operator who has a track record of promotional success.
 
richiem2282
From iRally:

IT'S EUROSPORT...

The deal has still to be formalised or signed, let alone announced, but iRally understands a 3-year deal has been agreed between the FIA and Eurosport whereby the television channel becomes both the producer of the WRC TV product, and the global promoter of the World Rally Championship.

The deal has been mooted since the first problems began to emerge about Vladimir Antonov's Convers Sports Initiatives, which controlled North One Sport. CSI went into administration in November.

Eurosport Events is responsible for the FIA World Touring Car Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Its General Manager is Italian Marcello Lotti, who's a former rally co-driver. Under Lotti, the IRC Series provided a new way to promote rally and scored some notable firsts, including televising all but one of last year's Monte Carlo Stages.

Quite what Eurosport will be able to achieve this year with the 80th Rallye Monte Carlo due to get under way in a week's time is anyone's guess. The important thing is that a deal has been done, with an operator who has a track record of promotional success.
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Great news for all Rally fans, I wonder if we'll get the coverage in North America, time will tell...
 
From iRally:

Julian Porter, the key Stage End reporter for North One Television, is joining Eurosport as part of their TV team for Rally Monte-Carlo. "The Guru" will be a huge resource for Eurosport as it attempts to take on the TV operation at very short notice. Porter has issued a statement in the last few minutes: "Through the WRC and over the years I have had the privilege of working with some of the best people in the industry who have become firm friends but with the recent changes it has been a difficult time for everybody concerned. I wanted to let you know personally that in the last 36 hours I have been approached by Eurosport, and in the last couple of hours we have come to a mutual agreement for me to work for them on Rally Monte Carlo next week. I am sending this to everybody as I wanted to tell you myself and not for you to hear it 2nd or 3rd hand, however as I am sure you can appreciate it is impossible for me to contact everybody individually but I think we’ve all had enough of rumours & speculation recently! I would like to take this chance to thank you all for your help, support and encouragement over the years and for the opportunities that I have been given."
 
That is great news. It shows that Eurosport are going to try. Lets face it, if they just bought it to have it, they would just put any of their own people to do it.
 
I really miss EuroSport in general since I came Stateside, pity we can watch it online... Oh well, hopefully some Rally channel on YouTube will come to our rescue...
 
richie, there is no need to post every single little thing you find - especially when you're double- and triple-posting. If you find something new, edit it into your previous post, or wait until someone else posts first. Otherwise, you could be done for spamming.
 
prisonermonkeys
richie, there is no need to post every single little thing you find - especially when you're double- and triple-posting. If you find something new, edit it into your previous post, or wait until someone else posts first. Otherwise, you could be done for spamming.
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Message received, could have been done through a private message too though... Also not one of my posts on this thread is in anyway related to Spam, I started this thread for people who are WRC fans and want up to date info on the WRC 2012 Season, so if I find something new on the 2012 WRC season and post it to my thread, how is it spamming?

Anyway, again message received...
 
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Some of my highlights for Rally Sweden's entry:
Chris Atkinson: Subaru Impreza R4, This guy is better than Solberg. A real shame his career momentum was lost when Subaru pulled out.
Patrik Sandell: Gets the pay-driver seat in a works Mini (still no Meeke) former JWRC champion and was the first driver in WRC to show S2000 was the future, beat PWRC cars in his Peugeot 207.
Richard Goransson: Great touring car driver (In STCC/TTA) trying WRC in a Mini, could spring a surprise like Ekstrom's great Fabia rallies at home.
Mads Ostberg: Misses the Monte but will do most other rounds starting where he almost won in 2011.
Nasser Al-Attiyah: Former PWRC champion, works Citroen could score a point or 2, at least likely to beat Al-Qassimi.
Andreas Mikkelsen: Mikkelsen is Ogier's teammate for half of 2011, Abbring the other half, IRC champion Mikkelsen's first round is Sweden.
 
Dani Sordo's butt-ugly Mini livery:

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Armindo Araujo's excellent Mini livery:

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Ott Tanak's very awesome M-Sport livery:

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