As announced by Rally GB chief executive Andrew Coe, it seems this year's Rally GB will not benefit from sponsorship money from WAG. Apparently, the two parties did not agree on the mentioning of Wales in the official designation of the event, with the matter due to be resolved in court later this year.
Although the British event was launched at Cardiff earlier today, the last meeting between the rally representatives and the WAG officials did not end well. Had they agreed on the hosting of the event, WAG would have poured in £1.5m in funding for this season's round and £1m for 2010 and 2011.
“This does, in effect mean we're back to square one. We're trying to resolve this issue. Unfortunately as of today we haven't been able to do that and we were left with no alternative but to launch Rally Great Britain (as opposed to Wales Rally Great Britain),” said Coe at the launch.
“You will have noticed the title of the event launched today. We had notification some time ago that our sponsor had curtailed the agreement we signed in 2007 until 2011.”
“The concern which prompted that action was that Rally GB was not on a provisional WRC calendar for 2010. World Motor Sport Council recently confirmed Rally GB does have a place, leaving this [action] unfounded. While legal action is ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further on this,” added the Rally GB CEO.
Under the circumstances, this year's Rally GB, scheduled to take place on October 23rd thru 25th and counting as season finale, will be backed by the MSA.
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