We have good support from the New South Wales (NSW) state government, which they have that signed up to 2020. State government support, of course, is a two edged sword as the people in Perth discovered.It all depends on elections, who is in power and who isn't. But if you have a long term contract either side will abide by that contract. Martin Holmes: Basically Australian motorsport thrives because of governmental support? WK: As there is now no motor industry in the country, and except for the V8 Touring Cars which receives massive recognition on television, pretty much all Australian motorsport relies on governmental support. NSW government supports nearly every event run in NSW.
November in Coffs Harbour provides a beautiful backdrop for the WRC. Photo: Peter Whitten
Among the existing events some events are viable financially or on a sporting level, and some are not. I believe that on a sporting level and financial level, Rally Australia is really up there with one of the best rallies in the world.MH: The long established rounds of the WRC all have their own special identity (Monte Carlo - racing in the winter, the speed in Finland and so on). What is the special identity of current day Rally Australia? WK: I really believe the special identity for Rally Australia is Coffs Harbour itself. It provides a versatile type of event. We're right on the edge of the beaches and we're on the edge of the mountains. They're both within 20 kilometres of each other. We have a wide range of stages, extremely good forest roads, we have the shire (closed public road) stages, remarkable stages like Nambucca and those which are very good, open, wide and provide good TV. And there is an Australian flavour to the whole event. Australians are renowned for being nice, friendly, open people and we try to promote the Australian outlook on what we do.
AP4 cars, like the NZ-built Mazda 2, are eligible to contest Rally Australia.
We certainly have two or three drivers who are really pushing, trying to achieve bigger and better things for themselves so they can eventually get in to a championship, whether it is WRC2 or above.MH: Is it a matter of regret or convenience that Rally New Zealand is not currently a force in the WRC? They were in the WRC for over 30 years, several more years than Rally Australia has been. KW: As far as Rally Australia is concerned, Rally New Zealand has always been a great event. We've never had any issue with them. I think the main reason they aren't actually in the World Rally Championship is a lack of support by their government. And I believe that if they did have full government support they would certainly be a round of the world championship.
Australian drivers Molly Taylor and Nathan Quinn test their skills against the world's best at Rally Australia. Photo: Geoff Ridder
Doing a WRC event on an alternate year-by-year basis certainly won't work. It is extremely difficult to find sponsors on a year-by-year basis, there would be no benefit for that sponsor. And we could never enter arrangements where we share sponsors along those lines.It might sound an ideal situation, but I don't believe that can happen. Different people are involved at an officiating level from our federation (Confederation of Australian Motor Sport) and from Motorsport New Zealand, though we do get on. We have our own championships and we hope to have a joint series Cup for cars from both the New Zealand and Australian Rally Championships. MH: Do you feel that the international success of New Zealander Hayden Paddon has a beneficial effect on Rally Australia? WK: Hayden is beneficial to Rally Australia. He and Rally Australia have a great relationship. We work and support each other as much as we can. I'm sure Hayden would prefer to support a WRC Rally of New Zealand, but unfortunately that is not the case at the moment. We are the only world championship in Australasia, and New Zealand is part of that. We are hoping to attract more NZ competitors to Rally Australia in future and that really relates back to Hayden and what he thinks of Rally Australia. Back in the days when New Zealander Possum Bourne rallied in Australia, Bourne really made a big name for himself at Subaru. These were probably the healthiest years of national rallying in Australia.
Rally Australia has been a regular in the WRC since 1989.
We had a total crowd of 65,000 last year, which may not sound great when you compare it to a lot of the European events, but it is still probably some of the highest in Australia.MH: Do you think Canberra (federal capital of Australia, 400,000 people) would be more suitable? KW: No, not really. I worked in Canberra for many years and ran their major events. These were supported by the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) state government, but at the moment the ACT government aren't interested in giving full support for even the Asia-Pacific event. Unfortunately the ACT have lost many old stage roads in the major fires in 2003, and since then they've been very restrictive in the areas they can use. I think Canberra is not an option.
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