Rally America announced their schedule for the upcoming season yesterday at the end-of-year awards banquet held following this weekend’s Lake Superior Performance Rally.
January Sno*Drift Rally Atlanta, MI
February Rally of the 100 Acre Wood Salem, MO
April Olympus Rally Olympia, WA
May Oregon Trail Rally Hood River, OR
June Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally Wellsboro, PA
July New England Forest Rally Newry, ME
Next year’s national championship calendar will be missing Rally Colorado, Ojibwe Forests Rally and Lake Superior Performance Rally. RA says that it is to reduce costs and to allow more organizational support for three rally cross events scheduled to be run next season.
Mike Hurst, the Rally America competition director, commented on the calendar changes in a press release:
After a great deal of consideration and review of the past three seasons, we’ve decided to reduce the Rally America National Championship from nine to six events to help reduce team costs and increase competition. The 2010 championship schedule will include two national-level rally events on the west coast, two on the east coast and two in the central portion of the United States. The six-event schedule will not only make it more affordable for the teams, but allow for better competition as well as allow Rally America to introduce European-style rally cross competition in the fall.
The press release also talks about the sport’s continued growth, but if the audience is expanding as fast as Rally America claims, then they should be able to provide support to events like Colorado and Ojibwe (which are two excellent rallies). Dropping three events at this point in the game makes about as much sense as telling Subaru they’re no longer wanted as a series sponsor.
The series will also conclude in July. That leaves more than five months of the year without any rallying whatsoever. Rallying will become harder to follow when there are fewer events and too much time between them.
I like rally cross. It’s fun to watch and there is plenty of opportunity to build and develop a series here in the States. I do wish that Rally America didn’t have to reduce the calendar and drop good rounds just to make room for Rally Cross (if there is an interest, it can support itself). Call me a traditionalist, but I’d much rather walk the stages all day than in the stands for two hours. Maybe it’s just me.
I’m not happy with these decisions.
What are your thoughts? Do you think that Rally America is making the right move by reducing the number of events in the series calendar?
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“After much consideration”… of their bottom line, and not what the fans of rally would like to see. This one is all about making money and has nothing to do with preserving the tradition of rally racing. The Press On Regardless Rally in Houghton, MI celebrated it’s 60th year and it was one of the rallies that was cut!
As a marketing professional I clearly understand that this move was all about making money in a simple fashion.. putting butts in seats, working with a controlled track environment, and simply selling the merch. If they would work to gain recognition of the sport and work more creatively to gain sponsorships for this event rather than turning it into a closed circuit X Game event (which should be kept separate because they are two different things completely anyway) then they wouldn’t be in this financial crunch.
It’s disturbing that our society continually sacrifices tradition for a dollar. If we do not stand together to preserve the sport of rally racing as we know it we will be watching it on a closed circuit exclusively within the next ten years. If you love open road rally racing, I encourage you to let your voice be heard.
Krispy, you’re right. I believe this was a monetary decision not made in the best interest of the fans or the sponsors. Thanks for voicing your opinion! Hopefully 2012 will be expanded once again!