Stormont will launch the 2009 WRC the weekend before Rally Ireland
It has been confirmed that Stormont, situated in Belfast Northern Ireland, will host the launch of the the WRC next year as reported in the Belfast Telegraph. The demonstration event will run on the 24th January 2009, the Saturday before Rally Ireland which is round one of the WRC.
The FIA have approved the event and all the leading teams, including Citroen and Ford, have agreed to take part. This news follows on from the ISC plans to run city centre style WRC demonstrations next year at various locations around the world, with Abu Dhabi being tipped as one of many other possible venues that may host demo events. Exact details of the Stormont launch festival will be announced in Catalunya next month but it is expected that the event will feature a Race of Champions style shoot-out around the grounds of the Stormont estate.
Sean O'Connor, consultant for Rally Ireland, explained to Sammy Hamill of the Belfast Telegraph the task ahead:
Nothing like this launch festival has ever been tried in the history of the World championship so we are in new territory but I'm confident it will be an outstanding success."
It was also revealed by the Belfast Telegraph that Motorsport Ireland will take on the role of event promoter for Rally Ireland 2009 following structural changes in the RI organising body. Ronan Morgan and Sean O'Connor who co-promoted the event previously have now taken on a consultancy role, they will still manage the day to day running of the event.
Changes have also taken place in the make-up of the board of directors. The reason for the restructuring is unclear at present but it is understood that funding for the event is still being finalised.
Stormont will launch the 2009 WRC:
Source: Belfast Telegraph
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
This could be an amazing event that can bring in even more crowds for WRC events.
Thanks for the heads-up mate!
Dave
That will be very dificult for Seb Loeb. He will just be the night before in the Turini stage for MC !
sorry to sound dull, but how come the monte and ireland are so close timewise?
if ireland is a wrc why would monte still go ahead and who of the big names would enter the monte?
sorry for my ignorance, but only just found this place and i need to catch up on all the news
Monte Carlo wont be in the WRC next year due to rotation so it’s in the IRC for 2009.