Rally Finland Cuts 40 Percent of 2009 Budget

The economic regression seems to have left some marks in WRC event organizing as well, since it has surfaced that Rally Finland will reduce their organizing budget for this year's event by as much as 40 percent. According to rally officials, this measure was taken in order to secure the hosting of the event this year, as well as the ones to come.

Rally Finland was one of the few events that wasn't included in FIA's rotating system for the upcoming years. While some rounds will make one appearance in the WRC calendar every 2 years, The Rally of 1000 Lakes was kept on a year-to-year basis thanks to its incredible popularity and the perfect way it is run.

Although they'll try to live up to their name this year also, the Rally Finland officials admitted they'll have to cut almost half of the organizing expenses in 2009 as most of the sponsors are gone. However, event promoter Jarmo Mahonen reiterated Finland's commitment to keep its spot in the WRC calendar many years from now.

“The economic recession is biting harder by the day in Finland. An obvious symptom of that is the fact that we have lost over 1,000 pre-booked VIP guests. Consequently, the event's budget has now been slashed by over 40 per cent for this summer. As an event organiser, we must be prepared for several lean years,” revealed Mahonen.

The rally was already confirmed for next year's WRC calendar. This season, the Jyvaskyla based event will get under way on July 30th and end on August 2nd, counting as the 9th round of the WRC schedule.