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But affordable cars are needed…

Rallying “most popular pursuit” in motorsport

 

The FIA is slowly opening the shutters and lifting the blinds on its sporting debates and activities, and although full openness and disclosure of the type enjoyed in Western democracies is not yet part of the offering from the governing body, there are signs of change.
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It does not appear that any media, let alone rally media, were invited to last week’s FIA Sport Conference in Munich – if they were, do please step forward and identify yourselves – but there were FIA releases from the fest, and some of these contain interesting rally references.

First, an FIA survey of clubs – disappointingly only just over 40% responded – showed rallying is by far the most popular pursuit among members.

President of the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Andrew Papadopoulos said rallying was a major activity in many countries, and a workshop he led called for the development of an affordable, uniform-specification vehicle that could be used by competitors in international and cross-border competitions.

FIA Rally Director Jarmo Mahonen was quoted saying the creation of more affordable cross-border rallying was “progressing”.

Mahonen also admitted rallying is over-regulated.

Cost of participation is a major challenge. Another workshop led by Christian Schacht pointed to cost as a barrier, saying motor sport must be customised to customer demands.

Driver development is a problem across motorsport. A further workshop, this one led by former Rally Australia chief Garry Connelly, said FIA needs to develop a template for use by all ASNs, defining the driver pathway in every discipline and particularly for young drivers and female competitors.

The word “female” should be noted. Women still form around half the world’s population, though this is not mirrored in the composition of the senior FIA councils, nor in the licence-holder statistics.

This month, 20 years after the Brighton Declaration on women in sport, the FIA signed up on behalf of 4-wheel motorsport. The FIA survey mentioned earlier showed that the number of female licence holders had increased by up to 5.8% between 2010 and 2013.

Sadly the release does not detail from what figure to what, nor does it give a comparison of the total number of male competitors to female.

There’s also no indication whether there has been any increase in the number of female rally drivers.

As to helping young drivers, delegates were told the media can play its part. Papadopoulos at an earlier session had said while ASNs are wary of media, it represents an important tool for promoting the agenda of ASNs.

Not just ASNs of course. Championships, events, manufacturers, teams, competitors and everyone else involved…

New media may be one route to market. President of the Drivers Commission Emerson Fittipaldi is reported saying the must-have for teens is a smart phone.

Engaging with that demand for technology, he’s reported as saying, will be key to appealing to new generations of fans and competitors.

He, and the rest in Munich, might like to try iRally. It’s free to download and use on smartphones and tablets too.

The Head of Sport at Twitter UK who spoke in Munich unsurprisingly said organisers should Tweet. A billion tweets are now sent every 2 days. Heaven knows who finds time to read them all…

However the message is sent, the content and quality is vital, and a note for a bit of passion was struck by Emanuele Pirro, the 5-times Le Mans winner:

“I don’t know who identifies with a driver who is fresh and clean, and who appears not to be giving everything.”

Rally PRs – and their bosses – please copy.

Pulling anything together for rally from all the utterances in Munich is not easy, but…

* Rally remains the most popular motorsport discipline.

* It needs affordable cars and less regulation.

* It needs ways for young competitors – female and male – to come in.

* Those who do come in need to know where any professional or semi-professional career may lead them.

* Motorsport as a whole should trust the media more.

Of course, one way to try this last would be for the sport to invite and welcome media to key meetings like Munich and future deliberations, and to give them stories to bite on.

Releases are not enough, though thank goodness we are now at least having them sent out.


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