Announced the day before the start of Rally Ireland, ISC Ltd has been awarded the world rally championship Promoter contract, to start in 2010 rather than 2011 as advertised in the original Tender. Here are some opinions:

Malcolm Wilson, M-Sport On behalf of the Ford team.
"ISC will certainly not have an easy task. They have been given the contract at perhaps the most difficult time possible . The best things about it is that their backers are still prepared to invest in the championship, a very positive message. We have to raise the profile of the WRC. We have confidence in the ISC but they need to broaden the whole scope. We need exposure in mainstream television. The Dave channel is not mainstream TV though it is becoming popular. So much more can now be done with Internet BUT we need to get to the non-core enthusiasts first. Regarding decisions about the structure of the sport, calender is a crucial part, that is the king of the problem of promotion and of costs. We are still very much in favour of "pillar" events in the sport, events with heritage. Sooner the better to get back to core events. The Promoter is to start work in 2010. I think we will see changes made even in 2009, for me will be too late. ISC need to start investing NOW, to get their return quicker".

Olivier Quesnel on behalf of Citroen Total and Citroen Junior teams
"It is good that we now have a global Promoter. There are two reasons why we are happy with ISC. Firstly because they know the television business and secondly, they can start work straightaway. If another company had been awarded the contract, they would not have been able to start straight away, we would have certainly lost a couple of years, a delay which we could not accept. I hope it will all go well, but there is a lot fo work to do!"

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