The review concluded that the 2009 Repco Rally generated up to $16.9 million in new economic activity in the Northern Rivers region.

Total attendance and ticket sales for rally stages and attendance at free events were reliably quantified by the organisers and confirmed by Ticketek at more than 86,000.

The review found that around 20,000 visitors travelled to the Northern Rivers region in September 2009 to attend the Repco Rally.

The review found that the event attracted 2,145 international visitors and 12,388 interstate visitors.

These results show that the event is well on track to delivering up to $100 million in direct economic benefit to the Northern Rivers region over its life-span continuing through to 2017.

The NSW Government will conduct further consultation with the local community ahead of the 2011 event.

The review makes it clear that the 2009 Repco Rally delivered a significant boost to regional tourism.

The positive economic benefits arising from the visiting drivers, co-drivers, teams, officials and spectators are matched by the profile delivered through local and international media coverage.

The rally, as part of the World Rally Championship, attracted a global television audience of more than 50 million viewers, according to industry reports.

Independent research from TNS Sport showed that news broadcasts of the event showcased the Northern Rivers region to a global audience of more than 53 million viewers on 264 channels, with 862 individual broadcasts in 107 countries.

The Australian leg of the World Rally Championships attracted the second biggest audience for any leg of the series in 2009.

The review received a total of 256 written submissions.

The NSW Government will ensure that the views of all the community are taken into account in planning for the next event.

If there needs to be a change in the rally route then this will be done in close consultation with all concerned.

The NSW Government has instructed the Homebush Motor Racing Authority to meet with stakeholders in the region and Rally Australia as soon as possible to discuss the review recommendations and immediately commence planning for the 2011 event.

The full report is available on the Homebush Motor Racing Authority website www.hmra.nsw.gov.au

For media enquires please call Mr Bryan Hardman CEO of the Homebush Motor Racing Authority on 0417 257037 who will be in the Kingscliff area from Tuesday 24 August 2010.

The report was based on data collected in surveys of spectators, media, corporate guests and officials during and after the event by Stollznow Research of Sydney and using on-line survey data of officials and ticket purchasers collected by Events New South Wales.

Expenditure by residents of the region was excluded from the calculation.

Conics also reported that there was a direct economic spend of $13 million plus an indirect economic benefit of $7.397 million for the state of New South Wales. This excluded all expenditure and impact from expenditure by residents of New South Wales.

The total economic impact of $27 million for the Northern Rivers Region is consistent with the projection made by Conics in its May 2009 report in which it predicted a total economic impact (direct and indirect) of $31 million.

The Conics Report also stated that “there will be other additional indirect economic benefits of a continued multiplier effect” because the money will “continue to ‘bounce’ through the broader economy to third and fourth tier industries”.

For further information contact:
Mr William Owen
National Manager – Economics
RPS Group
william.owen@conics.com.au
07 5657 5123

The car charged with this task is the MINI Countryman WRC, which is being developed by Prodrive, in close cooperation with MINI, and is based on the production model. The powerful heart of the racing car is a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo-charged engine from BMW Motorsport.

The car complies with the new Super2000 regulations put in place by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), which stipulate the use of turbo engines with 1,600 cc displacement and four-wheel drive combined with an increased emphasis on road relevant technologies.

The result is a significant 25 per cent reduction in overall costs. The first test drive for the MINI Countryman WRC, which will also be available to customer teams, is planned for autumn 2010.

This decision sees MINI continue its success story in the world of rallying. In the 1960s, the MINI Cooper S caused a sensation with victories at the legendary Monte Carlo Rally.

The company also tasted success on many occasions in the European Rally Championship. Having already demonstrated the sporty character of its models in many countries in the MINI CHALLENGE, the brand is now taking its presence in motorsport to a new level with the commitment to the WRC.

Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing, says: “I am delighted MINI will be represented on one of the most popular stages in international motorsport. The success enjoyed on the rally circuit has made a vital contribution to the image of the brand. MINI customers have always shown great interest in motorsport. I am convinced we will add a few more chapters to our success story in rallying. The MINI Countryman provides an excellent basis, from which to create a competitive racing car for the world championship. In Prodrive, we have a strong and experienced partner. We will work hard together over the coming months to ensure we get the project on track right from the word go.”

“This is a very exciting new motorsport programme,” said Prodrive Chairman, David Richards. “During the 1960s MINI captured the imagination of the world when the tiny car took on the might of V8 powered Fords and won what was then one of the toughest motorsport events, the 4000km Monte Carlo rally. I believe our new MINI will become a firm favourite of the latest generation of rally fans, just as it is adored by its millions of owners across the world. We already have a significant number of confirmed customer orders for the new MINI rally car with the first deliveries scheduled for the start of the 2011 season.”

Prodrive has been working on developing the MINI Countryman WRC since early 2009. The company was formed in 1984 by Richards, who won the World Rally Championship as co-driver to Ari Vatanen (FI) three years earlier. Based in Banbury (GB), Prodrive has developed into a leading independent company in the motorsport and automobile sector under Richards’ guidance, and today employs over 500 staff. Prodrive’s many successes currently include six overall victories in the World Rally Championship, five titles in the British Touring Car Championship and three class victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours (FR).

BMW was present when the World Rally Championship made its debut back in 1973. Achim Warmbold (DE) and Jean Todt (FR) tasted victory in their BMW 2002 at the Alpenfahrt Rally in Austria. However, MINI’s tradition in this discipline stretches back even further: Pat Moss (GB) clinched the first victory with the MINI 850 at the 1959 Mini Miglia National Rally. MINI ultimately enjoyed its finest hours at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965 and 1967: the MINI Cooper S celebrated three overall victories at the most iconic rallying event in the world. Paddy Hopkirk (IR, 1964), Timo Mäkinen (FI, 1965) and Rauno Aaltonen (FI, 1967) joined the list of winners at this prestigious event.

In 1965, “Rally Professor” Aaltonen also won the European Rally Championship. Tony Ambrose (GB) and Mäkinen finished second and third to round off an excellent overall result for the MINI Cooper S. In addition, MINI drivers also enjoyed many individual wins at renowned rallies throughout Europe. The last BMW World Rally Championship victory was achieved in 1987 in Corsica by Bernard Béguin (FR) driving a BMW M3 which was built and run by Prodrive.

From 2011, over 40 years down the line, the MINI Countryman WRC will be charged with adding further chapters to this success story. It bridges the gap between the classic MINI concept and a contemporary Sports Activity Vehicle.

A 14th event could be added to the calendar. This would be approved by the WMSC on 23 June 2010 at the latest.

Rd 1. Sweden 13 February
Rd 2. Mexico 06 March
Rd 3. Portugal 27 March
Rd 4. Jordan 17 April
Rd 5. Italy 08 May
Rd 6. Argentina 29 May
Rd 7. Greece 19 June
Rd 8. Finland 31 July
Rd 9. Germany 21 August
Rd 10. Australia 11 September
Rd 11. France 02 October
Rd 12. Spain 23 October
Rd 13. Great Britain 13 November

Note: The dates given are the Sunday of rally weekend, but event formats are subject to final confirmation by organisers.

“I am delighted that Australia is once again confirmed for next years’ World Rally Championship and we are now well into our planning for the event. We look forward to working with the NSW Government, local councils and Events NSW to ensure the Rally is as good as last years,” said Rally Australia Chairman Alan Evans.

Mr Evans also confirmed that the Rally will take place in Northern NSW and plans will include expansion of some rally stages and include new areas.

Running from 10th-12th September this year, the non-profit community event will again be run by the Rotary Club of Murwillumbah in conjunction with Rally Australia who became shareholders of the renowned event after reviving the festival in 2009.

“We are thrilled that Speed on Tweed will be returning to the spotlight once more and are looking forward to turning on a festival similar to that which ran in 2008,” says event spokesperson Bill Larkin. “We have always had high numbers in attendance in the past and we are hoping that the many spectators that attended the event in previous years will return to see the spectacle that is Speed on Tweed. I’m sure nobody will leave dissatisfied after
seeing some of the most famous cars and drivers in Australia’s racing history in action and absorbing our unique festival atmosphere.”

The theme for this year’s event has been decided as ‘Australian Specials’ and it is hoped that this theme will assist in attracting a number of the country’s finest, classic all-Australian race cars to participate in the festival.

Although no schedule for the event has yet been released, plans are in full swing, the Friday and Saturday night events are back and competitors are already knocking on the doors of organisers as they wait with great anticipation for entries for the 2010 event to open.

For all enquiries please visit www.speedontweed.com.au or email the Speed on Tweed office at info@speedontweed.com.au

The rally was shown on 264 channels worldwide over 862 individual broadcasts. More than 53% of the broadcasts were of 30 minutes duration or more. Within Australia the event received five and a half hours of coverage on Network Ten, an additional five and a half hours of coverage on One HD, one hour on SBS and three 30 minute segments on Fox Sports.

Chairman of the Rally Australia Board, Mr Alan Evans, described the broadcast results as “very pleasing indeed”. Mr Evans stated “Considering this was our first event on the East Coast of Australia, and the first WRC round in Australia since 2006, to know that the rally and vision of the beautiful surroundings of Northern NSW were broadcast to more than 53 million people confirms our predictions that Repco Rally Australia is a great medium for promoting the region and NSW in general”.

“We are also delighted at the number of countries where the programmes were broadcast and especially the duration and the time slots achieved” he said. “The majority of programmes went to air in popular time slots and were of significant duration.

“Importantly” Mr Evans stated, “these figures do not include news programmes and sporting updates which are incorporated in normal network scheduling. No doubt there would be many more people who became aware of the event through these sources who were not viewers of the regular WRC programmes”.

Australia’s next round of the FIA World Rally Championship is scheduled to be conducted in Northern NSW in 2011.

With warm regards,
The Team at Rally Australia

The Rally organisers worked with the North East Waste Forums’ Waste Wise Events program to plan measures to avoid and reduce waste and implement recycling at the
first Northern Rivers round of the World Rally Championships, which took place from 3 to 6 September.

More than 250 bins were provided by Solo Resource Recovery to encourage the separation of waste from recycling at the Kingscliff Rally Service Park and the rally
spectator points in the Tweed Shire.

Karen Rudkin, Waste Wise Event Coordinator for the North East Waste Forum said “A waste audit revealed that the recyclables collected were predominately cardboard and paper, plastic drink bottles and aluminium drink cans and contamination levels were low enough to enable successful recovery and avoid disposal to landfill of these valuable resources”.

“Introducing waste reduction and recycling initiatives helped to lower the rally’s environmental impact and the information gathered can be used in future event planning
to assist in further reducing waste to landfill,” she said.

The NEWF is a group of five councils on the North Coast of New South Wales including Tweed Shire, working together towards cost-effective waste management and resource recovery solutions.

For more information on how to run a Waste Wise Event go to: http://www.northeastwasteforum.org.au

Figures received to date from several local volunteer organisations show that profits in excess of $30,000 have been raised by these community groups through their activities during the rally. It is expected that this figure will grow as more information becomes available.

The presentation of the Abu Dhabi “Spirit Of The Rally” award to Kyogle and Tweed Councils recognises “a display of extraordinary local generosity and determined organisation “. Full credit goes to the volunteers and community groups that embraced the event despite no prior association or familiarity with the motorsport and made it such a success.

“The Kyogle Chamber of Commerce have advised Council that whist they do not have any firm figures at this stage, that all businesses spoken to have expressed that they were very excited about the weekend takings,” said the Mayor.

Comments received from business owners included:

• “Business takings were 1000% up on a normal week-ends trade. The event was really fabulous and it was great to talk with the visitors who had wonderful things to say about our town and how friendly Kyogle people are. Spectators were well behaved and well mannered.”

• “A really good week-end. Business was up, the weather was superb, it brought the community together and there is still a real buzz around. Even if you weren’t a car buff you couldn’t help getting involved. It was great interacting with the visitors. We had people in here from Ireland, Western Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania, and 98% of them had never been to Kyogle before.

Kyogle visitor information centre statistics indicate visitors over the weekend were the equivalent of six months of the usual visitations.

The Mayor also advises that “in relation to the social impact of the rally, through the growing Kyogle committee, we have engaged a consultant to conduct and independent review for our local government area. As there has been some opposition to the rally, this independent research should go a long way to convincing the community that the review process is transparent and above reproach.”

The research will involve:

• Analysis of Kyogle visitor and expenditure data
• Analysis of results from a business survey
• Design and implementation of random resident phone surveys
• Attendance at a post event forum and documenting views and ideas (via digital recording & research notes)
• Production of a final report which pulls together the above research and provides one document on the social costs and benefits of the event to the Kyogle local government area community

The details -
• SBS One
• Sunday 13 September
• 2pm-3pm (check local guides)