FIA World Rally Championship set to return to the Coffs Coast
In less than six weeks Coates Hire Rally Australia 2013, the Australian leg of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), will return to the Coffs Coast.
The rally, last staged in September 2011, will be round 10 on the 2013 WRC calendar.
Its date, from 12th and 15th September, was confirmed late last year by the FIA (Federation de l'Automobile) World Motor Sport Council with leading international rally drivers set to feature in more than 300 kilometres of rallying action through beautiful and rugged countryside in the Coffs Harbour, Nambucca, Bellingen and Clarence Valley areas.
The spectacle is expected to draw thousands of fans to trackside vantage points, plus an estimated cumulative international television audience of 50 million people.
Destination NSW estimates Rally Australia 2011 generated a net economic impact of over $12 million for the local region.
Looking forward to the 2013 event, Rally Australia Chairman Ben Rainsford explains "with the benefit of our experience in 2011, we intend not only to stage an even better event, including a number of enhancements for spectators, but also to deliver greater benefits to the community through tourism and the development of local staff and officials."
Rally Australia dates back to 1988, when it began in Western Australia and ran as a round of the WRC in Perth for 18 years from 1989. Not staged in 2007 and 2008, Rally Australia was held in the Northern Rivers region of NSW in 2009, before moving to the Coffs Coast in 2011.
Confederation of Australian Motorsport President Andrew Papadopoulos says the return of Rally Australia is good news for rallying, stating "the first running of Rally Australia in the Coffs Coast region was a tremendous success.
"It was extremely well run, and the roads provided plenty of action for the spectators.
"We're thrilled that Rally Australia, the FIA and the NSW Government, through Destinations NSW, were able to return such an important international motor sport event to the region.
"The Coffs Coast region is a wonderful destination every day of the year - but it is even more so when some of the biggest stars in world motor sport are fighting to win a world championship rally on the region's roads."
For more information go to www.rallyaustralia.com.au/
11th September 2008 - WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA