Rally of Great Britain : FIA approves date change for 2008 Wales Rally GB.

FIA approves date change for 2008 Wales Rally GB.

Wales Rally GB from 4th to 7th December 2008.

26 March 2008, 3:13 pm

The Federation International de L’Automobile (FIA) has, today (26th March) approved a date change for Wales Rally GB, the 15th and final round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship.

The rally will now begin with a ceremonial start on Thursday 4th December and conclude after three days of competitive driving on Sunday 7th December, one week later than originally scheduled.

This is to avoid a potential clash of events at Wales’ national stadium over the weekend of Saturday 29th November.

“For the past two months we have been working closely with the major events teams in both Cardiff City Council and the Millennium Stadium to avoid a clash of these two major International events in the Welsh capital. They both require a huge amount of resources, such as accommodation, traffic management and facilities to welcome visitors from around the world,” said Andrew Coe, chief executive of International Motor Sports, organisers of Wales Rally GB.
“We are grateful to the FIA for agreeing to our request for a date change which now allows us to plan the running of the 76th edition of this world-renowned rally in detail,” added Andrew Coe.

Details of the rally start and finish locations in Cardiff together with the overall route and timetable are traditionally announced in late May or early June.

WRGB PR.01.08. 26.3.2008.

Sebastien Loeb has won Rallye Monte-Carlo for a sixth time following a dominant performance behind the wheel of the Citroen DS3 WRC he shares with Monegasque co-driver Daniel Elena.

Of the 74 starters who began Wales Rally GB in Llandudno on Thursday 10th November, 40 were classified at the end of the four-day,1860 kms rally which featured 23 timed special stages as it wound its way from the North coast to the ceremonial finish in Cardiff.

As this year's Wales Rally GB - the final and deciding round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship - draws to a close, Business Minister, Edwina Hart has announced a funding package of £1.4 million for the 2012 event.