All pistons go as Welsh Government agree support package for Wales Rally GB

The Economy Minister, Edwina Hart, has today announced an extension of the Welsh Government’s support for the Wales Rally GB, which will see the iconic event return to Wales over the next three years.

Wales Rally GB is one of Wales’ long standing flagship events and has been exclusively hosted in the country since 2002. Last year’s event attracted around 45,000 visitors from outside Wales with an estimated direct economic impact of £9.6million.

In 2013 the event moved exclusively to North Wales and has gone from strength to strength, introducing RallyFest stages to make the sport more accessible by providing enhanced facilities and all-day entertainment for all ages.

The Rally continue to develop relationships with Wales’ Advanced Materials and Manufacturing industry, with the Toyota Manufacturing Plant hosting the event’s service park, which attracted 19,500 visitors last year and introduced a STEM event supported by over 40 companies and targeted at 1,300 key stage 3 students.

The Minister said:

“I’m pleased to announce an extension to our successful partnership with International Motor Sports to support the Wales Rally GB for a further three years. This world class event continues to go from strength to strength and has developed a strong profile on the World Rally Championship calendar, again demonstrating Wales’ ability to deliver a wide-range of major events.

“The Rally provides an ideal platform to showcase Wales’ many assets, including our spectacular scenery, with last year’s media coverage estimated to have reached an international audience of 60million.

“The organisers have worked to widen the appeal of this sport, with developments such as the Rallyfest proving invaluable in reaching beyond the motorsport enthusiast, attracting new visitors and providing a welcome boost for retailers and accommodation providers at what is a quieter time of year.

“The value of the relationship between the staging of Wales Rally GB and Wales’ Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Industry should not be underestimated and is doing much to raise the profile of this sector internationally.

“With an agreement now in place I look forward to seeing the organisers build on previous success and deliver an even greater event in 2016.”

Ben Taylor, Managing Director of IMS said:

“We are delighted to have agreed a new deal with the Welsh Government whose support has been critical to the long standing success of Wales Rally GB. Their forward thinking strategy allows our event to deliver around £10m of economic value to the Welsh economy in addition to a world-class event that brings business, tourism and many other commercial benefits to the country.

“The move to North Wales has been a great success in recent years; we can now look forward to building on that platform and implementing exciting new plans to grow the event still further. The Welsh Government’s extended support for this international event is fantastic news not only for rallying in Wales but also for the motor sport sector in the UK.”