Wrc 2012

[toddiscdn]

I just gotta say how awsome it is to have this coverage, Im so glad you got sucked into the asylum with the Dakar, being a Ford guy I might have rooted for JML any way , but now for sure, thanks so much.

Oh ya , its been so long since Ive had good coverage that I didnt know Peter had been out that long lol.


Cheers, Todd

[doyle]

I hope no one was expecting much WRC coverage this year.

2012 FIA World Rally Championship

03/02/2012

The FIA regrets to announce it has not proven possible to find an international promoter as well as a global broadcaster for the 2012 World Rally Championship season at this stage in time.

The Federation has been involved in lengthy and detailed discussions with interested parties but a series of issues proved impossible to reconcile, and it finally had to take the decision to withdraw from these negotiations.

In addition to the usual sporting and technical services it provides for these events, the FIA will finance the timing/tracking of each event so that the Championship can take place in the best conditions.

Teams, manufacturers and the other stakeholders have all been informed of this situation.

The FIA will now open discussions with all the other parties which have expressed interest in the promotion of the WRC in order to guarantee the future development and growth of the FIA World Rally Championship.

[Balkan Boy]

What?
So no coverage by anyone?

If a tree falls in the WRC special stage and there are no main-stream media to cover it, did it really fell?

[justdrew]

So is it that nobody wants to run WRC, or is FIA being a pain in the ass to deal with?

Either way this can't be good for the future of the series. The announcement makes it sound like the FIA will be running the show, but how long will they want to keep that up.

[PackMule]

Ouch.

Winds of media change a-blowin'?

Maybe we should turn TeamF5 into a real media outlet.

www.TeamF5.info


$100million IPO goes live in 5 years.

[wrk2surf]

Euro sport has too much snooker as it is.. so they are going to run it into the ground like DMG did to the AMA... this recession is taking EVERYthing down

[doyle]

As far as I know, the FIA is still operating as if the good times are rolling and charging as such. From a North American perspective, this was a huge error on their part. Just as WRC was gaining ground and growing in popularity, they tried to gouge SpeedTV for the feed and it was dropped completely and with it, a lot of momentum.

I'd hate to see the same thing happen in Europe where it is obviously much more popular. Fact is that manufacturers race to sell product, period. Without TV exposure, the audience becomes limited to the enthusiasts who are going to see it anyway. I understand the FIA wants total control and they've done fairly well at keeping up the reputations of their respective series when compared to things like Indycar and the like, but it's hard for me to imagine that many manufacturers will put up with zero TV coverage for too long.

[troy safari carpente]

Originally Posted by PackMule

Maybe we should turn TeamF5 into a real media outlet.

Team F5-troop does the WRC...?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhpOSirfdGk




Agaaaaaaarn!

[Aquatic]

Sad really!!!
Considering the minis just got there and the polos on their way for next year. It was starting to get exciting again.

[Turder]

Originally Posted by justdrew

So is it that nobody wants to run WRC, or is FIA being a pain in the ass to deal with?

I think it's FIA who is greedy, or at least that's the impression I had. EuroSport wanted the broadcasting rights and there were negotiations with the governing body but no positive outcome.

Shame as EuroSport had really good crew for broadcasting rally events, especially the IRC series they did last few years. Monte Carlo was also a great effort from them.

[vander]

Originally Posted by Aquatic

Sad really!!!
Considering the minis just got there and the polos on their way for next year. It was starting to get exciting again.

The Mini program is now very uncertain. BMW has broked the contract with Prodrive. Motorsport Italia takes the job now.
Problem for Mini driver Dani Sordo is his contract is with Prodrive, not BMW. Hope he solves it somehow and can drive the Mini. He was doing pretty well.

[vander]

Eurosport and WRC: Solve your problems NOW!!!

[Balkan Boy]

Originally Posted by vander

The Mini program is now very uncertain. BMW has broked the contract with Prodrive. Motorsport Italia takes the job now.
Problem for Mini driver Dani Sordo is his contract is with Prodrive, not BMW. Hope he solves it somehow and can drive the Mini. He was doing pretty well.

Mini actually asked Kris Meeke to pay for his seat this year.
That's never a good sign.

What I've been reading between the lines is that FIA overplayed their hand and didn't manage to find an agreement with ES in time for Sweden. That doesn't mean that there won't be some deal later on.

Bit more here:
http://www.best-of-rallylive.com/en/...r-for-the-wrc/

[doyle]

Rally Sweden finalises its own deal to keep event on international TV

So then who needs the FIA? If promoters must secure their own TV deals, why not their own rules? Does this then mean that the FIA gives up the rights to control the feed, meaning they cannot go after YouTube channels that post Rally Sweden videos?

[Jurassic]

Prodrive are still running their own privateer effort with Danny Sordo driving but whether that'll continue is anyones guess (it'll depend whether Prodrive can pick up commercial sponsorship to cover the financial shortfall left by Mini pulling the plug). Sordo is contracted to Prodrive not Mini and the "new" Mini works effort will be Mini Portugal run by Motorsport Italia with Armindo Araujo and Paulo Nobre. Prodrive are still contracted to develop the Mini and presumably will have to pass on any developments to Motorsport Italia for them to use with their "slower" driver lineup while Prodrive as a customer team will have the services of the main drivers Sordo and Meeke to call upon! Madness!
As Prodrive developed the Mini WRC car they have the rights to certain aspects of the car so Mini would have to start again pretty much from the ground up if they wanted another company to develop the Mini.
The whole mess was caused by Mini/BMW transferring funds from the WRC (Prodrive) effort to BMWs DTM project leaving Prodrive with a huge financial shortfall.
When you combine this with the farce surrounding the FIA/Eurosport broadcasting deal it does make you wonder about the future of WRC in it's present form. I wouldn't be surprised if VW scale down or shelve the Polo WRC project as well with the current turmoil and financial situation.