As a candidate event for inclusion in the FIA World Rally Championship for 2006, the PT-Rallye de Portugal has undergone significant changes since its last running as part of the FIA WRC. Here, President of the Rally, Mário Martins da Silva and Clerk Of The Course, Pedro Almeida, explain how some of the changes came about and their expectations for this weekend’s event.
Could you explain why the event base moved south to the Algarve from its traditional home of Porto?Mario Martins da Silva: The list of requirements for a rally in the modern FIA World Rally Championship has changed quite a lot in recent years. Every event now needs to be near an international airport, have an adequate amount of hotel accommodation and of course, have a selection of stages within easy reach. In addition to the weather, the Algarve has all of these and more.Pedro Almeida: For us, the Algarve is the natural choice, in terms of providing the support infrastructure, the choice of stages and the fact that the Algarve is representative of the best of Portugal.
Was it difficult to leave the north, the rally’s ‘spiritual’ home?MMdS: From a nostalgia perspective, yes, it was difficult. However, the ‘old’ Rally of Portugal was an in-line rally, with the event and the support structure moving around, with different service areas and so on. Nowadays, that’s impossible. The events are much more tightly focussed, geographically concentrated and media-friendly. PA: For us, it wasn’t a case of easy or difficult; this was the only choice to give the rally the best chance. MMdS: One of the things we will miss from the north are the famous stages. However, we feel that we can offer stages that are just as good but in the context of a much better all round package.PA: I think those who will miss the classic stages, like Arganil, the most are the international drivers, who have competed on them many times in the past. But we feel that this year’s stages will be come classics in their own right within a year or two.
Having moved locations, has it been easy to find and train a new structure of marshals and support staff?MMdS: That’s always a difficult job and the change of location hasn’t made it any easier. However, we are lucky in that motorsport is extremely popular in Portugal and generally, there are plenty of people willing to help with the smooth running of the event. The rally itself passes through seven separate prefectures, each with its own mayor and each and every one of them has given us tremendous support. They have driven local people to join us as marshals, as well as providing safety, support, medical and recovery vehicles, buses to ferry media and VIPs in and out of stages, and making sure the local community supports us as much as possible.
What investment has the rally made in providing training for the event?MMdS: Once the local mayors had identified and put forward personnel to support the event, the ACP stepped in and provided training in situ for those people, in terms of general safety practices, crowd control and communication. We also supply timing crews, from motor clubs around the country while we provide medical training, in addition to the resource itself. We are using the same timing system that is used on Rallye Catalunya, along with the matching safety tracking system
How does the Algarve Stadium work as a base for the rally?MMdS: It’s an excellent venue to bring everything together. Having the headquarters and the service park in the same location is good news for everyone; drivers, media, organisers. Having the service park on tarmac makes it better for the public and means we can build a sponsor village to provide extra attractions. We are very pleased to be using it.
What levels of spectator interest are you expecting? PA: We are expecting a lot of spectators but until the rally gets underway, it’s impossible to say how many. There is huge interest in the event, not only within Portugal but of course, from Spain as well, with Carlos Sainz driving the ‘0’ car, partnered by Luis Moya. The Spanish press have been talking about if for some time! We do know that all the VIPs we have invited (more than 200) have accepted the invitation.
In preparation, we have created 19 separate spectator zones, which we’re directing people to, throughout the rally. These locations are identified because of their easy access, the views of the action they will provide and the fact that we know that we can make sure safety for all involved is the best it can be. However, we have also identified a series of locations that we believe local spectators will gain access to and have also made the same preparations at these locations, with marshals, restricted areas and safe, viewing locations, even though we are not directing people there.
To give you an idea of how many of these locations there are, in the first stage, we have three ‘official’ locations and seven ‘unofficial’ spectator points.
As a sporting event, how important to the nation is the PT-Rally de Portugal?MMdS: The Portuguese have always been very keen on motorsport and I think it’s fair to say that it’s ingrained in us. After something like a football, golf or tennis championship, an event like the PT-Rallye de Portugal is very important. One of the country’s key industries is tourism and this helps to get, and keep, Portugal on the map.
When the new board of the ACP was inaugurated in 2004, the first question they asked was ‘When is Portugal going to be back in the WRC?’ We hope it will be back in 2006 and all our efforts are going into making that possible.
