Rally Ireland in Danger of Veering Off Course

The world rally championship gets into its shaky stride this morning as a mere 36 cars tackle the opening special stage of Rally Ireland. Last night's ceremonial start in Enniskillen, a tipping of the cap to cross-border cooperation, could not disguise the fact that both the championship and the event itself appear to be running out of steam. As the crews made their way back to the Republic of Ireland and the rally headquarters in Sligo, it was hard to avoid the perception that Ireland's second running of a world championship event may also be its last.

The world rally championship has only itself to blame for such a weak entry by continuing with prohibitive costs for mandatory fuel and tyres that help make the event a non-starter for manufacturers such as Subaru and Suzuki, never mind enthusiastic amateurs in one of the world's great heartlands of rallying.

Ford and Citroën are the only motor companies represented here but quantity assumes second place to quality as Sebastien Loeb, world champion since 2004, takes the start for Citroën and last year's runner-up, Mikko Hirvonen, heads the proliferation of Ford Focus entries. The Ford rally team's survival of the economic crisis is due to team boss, Malcolm Wilson, having had the foresight to secure major sponsorship from BP and Abu Dhabi, without which Ford would have probably pulled out.

"It would obviously be better to have more works entries but there are many championships in motor sport which survive perfectly well with just two leading teams going head-to-head,' said Mark Deans, Ford's director of European motorsport. "As far as Ford are concerned, there is no better way to demonstrate the durability and performance of our products. Rallying also allows us to connect with our customers. When the cars return to the service area, the spectators can feel a part of what's going on. The Ford Focus they watch being worked on looks very similar to one in their local showroom even though, under the surface, the cars are very different.

"The other point about rallying is that it is the only sport in which the amateur will cover, on the same day in the same conditions, exactly the same road as the world champion, set a personal goal and make a comparison. It's a shame that more have not be able to take the opportunity this weekend."

Old habits die hard and many competitors preferred to stay loyal to the less expensive Galway event. But it is also true to say that the close proximity to the festive season did not help any more than the use of special stages that are largely unknown to Irish crews who would prefer to run on familiar ground where local knowledge might allow them to show well against the professionals.

Rally Ireland is one of only two all-Tarmac events in the 12-round championship thanks to Ireland, unlike Great Britain, having the ability to close public roads at the drop of a woolly hat. The first three stages, run twice this morning, are indicative of what lies in store before the 228 miles against the clock are completed on Sunday. Having tackled this loop in Cavan and Leitrim, the crews will cross the border this afternoon to Fermanagh for two stages north-west of Enniskillen.

"The stages are excellent," says Matthew Wilson, 22-year-old son of Malcolm Wilson and Britain's leading driver. "They're very fast, with bumps and jumps on narrow roads that allow no margin for error. And conditions will be very tricky and at times unpredictable because of the wet surface and dirt being flicked on to the road by cars ahead of you. It would be a real shame, for lots of reasons, if we lost this rally. The enthusiasm for rallying here is incredible."

Passion alone will not support an event that, inevitably, has lost some of the momentum and financial input created by its spectacular entry to the world championship at the end of 2007. Rally Ireland is also the victim of a rota system, new for 2009, that sees a roster of 24 events diluted to 12 each year. The Monte Carlo Rally has been dropped for 2009 and Rally Ireland, as if it did not have enough difficulties, will suffer from the testing and inescapable comparison with a classic event that has, until now, been the traditional and revered opener of the season.