WRC Coffs Harbour-8 Sept.

[Ian G.]

http://www.rallyaustralia.com/media/

Glad to see commonsense prevail with the move of the WRC to the mid North Coast area of NSW.I live on the Tweed and this was never the place for a variety of reasons not the least of which is it's a Greenies power base,i feel sorry for the folk at Kyogle(& those that purchased Business's on the strength of the Rally returning) though,the Rally was a real godsend for the area after years of drought..
Should be a fantastic spectacle with some great Rally roads in the area to choose from and hopefully the Rally will find a permanent home in the region.

[Ian G.]

Citroen confirms Loeb & Ogier will compete.
http://www.rallyaustralia.com/loeb-ogier-confirmed-for-coffs-coast/

[Ian G.]

6+ days to go....

PDF of route.http://media.apnonline.com.au/img/media/pdf/Rally_Australia_2011_Course_Overview_Maps_060611.pdf

[bpratt]

I actually was one of the officials on the Super Special Stage when it was in the Northern Rivers area, and was really disappointed that a small amount of greenies got their way over the rest of the community that appeared to really enjoy Rally Australia being there.

That said, I'm not part of any team for this event, but I do know the team I was with were to run a SSS at this event, and good on them.


I will be watching what happen in this event, as it is a great event for Australia, albeit a little too far away for me at this point of time.

[Mothers Worry]

That said, I'm not part of any team for this event......

That's a shame I was hoping we might pick you up in a shot on WRC Rally World.

Question: Is it a per-requisite of driving for a Red Bull motorsport team of any sort that you have the first name Sebastian?

[Ian G.]

Yeah,lots of Sebs. in Euro. motor sport and there will probaly be another wave of them with Vettel winning another WDC.

Wandered down to Coffs. on the W/end,a lot lower key than i thought it would be,some of the Southern X's would have had more activity and crowds.The Tweed event, in the areas we were, was a much bigger spectacle with larger crowd numbers  but obviously has a much bigger population base if you include Brisbane. 
Overall tho.i think it was a sucess,despite Fridays rain,and could really evolve into a great event,plenty of options available to organisers with the roads available in the area.Grafton Council is going to lobby officials to get some competitive stages in the Clarence area.

[Mothers Worry]

I watched a lot of the tv coverage. A great event by the looks of things.

[Ian G.]

It was an OK event and could build into something special but nothing like the hype beforehand.Rally GM Michael Massi was on TV saying they sold 86,000 spectator tickets,the most for any Rally Oz.,not sure if thats correct as 86,000 was the pre-Rally estimated total of people visiting Coffs over the week. He also said it would be back in 2013(NZ 2012) and hopefully every year after that but from my understanding the final decision rests with the FIA and/or the NSW Govt..
Some Coffs. Business's have complained their sales went down, not up, and may be claiming compensation from organisers.
http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/story/2011/09/14/rally-leaves-businesses-in-the-red/

[Ian G.]

Tweed Council,or at least some Councillors,have started a push to try and get the Rally back.Kevin Skinner,Councillor and former Mayor has been on local TV & Radio trying to get some support to get the ball rolling,apparently he has figures showing the Tweed economy benefited by many Millions of $ just from Brisbane/SE Qld. visitors alone.

[bpratt]

Tweed Council,or at least some Councillors,have started a push to try and get the Rally back.Kevin Skinner,Councillor and former Mayor has been on local TV & Radio trying to get some support to get the ball rolling,apparently he has figures showing the Tweed economy benefited by many Millions of $ just from Brisbane/SE Qld. visitors alone.

It's a bit late for them to realise all of that, now that Coffs Harbour has got it.

Blind Freddy could've told them that they were bringing in a lot of business because of it. I guess not having Speed on Tweed this year has really brought it home to themselves that they've lost a lot of tourist income without these events.

Bet those greenies that caused all the problems during the first and only WRC down there ain't too popular once again.

[Ian G.]

Speed on the Tweed has the wobbles now its come onto the Greenies radar,shame as it was a great event.Getting the Info. 3rd hand but apparently there is a lot of "behind the scenes" work going on to get it back on a permanent schedule but Insurance costs seem one of the major hurdles.
Although i live on the Northern Rivers Coffs. is a much better place to hold the Rally,gives the organisers far more options and a lot less hassles.

[bpratt]

Speed on the Tweed has the wobbles now its come onto the Greenies radar,shame as it was a great event.Getting the Info. 3rd hand but apparently there is a lot of "behind the scenes" work going on to get it back on a permanent schedule but Insurance costs seem one of the major hurdles.
Although i live on the Northern Rivers Coffs. is a much better place to hold the Rally,gives the organisers far more options and a lot less hassles.

Speed on Tweed was such a great event, and it's a shame that it looks like it has also gone. Once the original organiser backed out of it, due to him not wanting to do 'all the work', it's got too hard for the rest of the organising committee to continue it, and now the greenies have gone against the WRC and found that they can 'win', then Speed on Tweed will no doubt be the next victim.

You said it all in regard to Rally Australia when you said "a lot less hassles" by moving down to Coffs. 

[Ian G.]

Mayor Warren Polgaise was on Prime local News last night saying they would be starting the process of bidding for the 2013 event so its looks like they're serious but gee i can't see the FIA agreeing to go back even if they can get the State Govt. onside.
I attended a couple of the early S-on-T and a great niche event,local business's Service Station/Food/Motels etc. did a roaring trade,they'll be whinging.