The M-Sport World Rally Team cars will be wrapped in a special Autosport International livery at Wales Rally GB this week.
The unique collaboration also marks the announcement that M-Sport will be exhibiting at the show in January.
The Wales Rally GB weekend is a decisive one for the M-Sport team. The British outfit are within striking distance of the manufacturers’ crown, needing just four points over the remaining two events. Whilst a fifth successive GB win this coming weekend would guarantee Sébastien Ogier the championship, making him only the third driver to win WRC titles with different manufacturers.
Spectators at Wales Rally GB will be in with a chance to win one of five pairs of Paddock Pass tickets to Autosport International in January, terms and conditions apply.
All fans have to do is take a photo of the distinctive Autosport International liveried M-Sport Rally cars along the world-famous stages across the weekend, upload the images to social media channels and tag M-Sport and Autosport International using the hashtag #ASI18.
Dynamic new cars and a thrilling season-long title battle have sparked record attendances at this year’s FIA World Rally Championship. Figures from the initial 10 WRC rounds show fans are flocking to view this season’s gripping action, and crowds have risen by five per cent compared with 2016 to more than 3,750,000 people. With the final three fixtures still to add to the tally, the attendance across all 13 rounds is on course to create a record for the modern-era WRC. | Breaking newsTurkey was yesterday confirmed in next season’s FIA World Rally Championship calendar by the sport’s governing body. The FIA’s WRC Commission rubber-stamped the country’s return after a seven-year absence following a successful dress rehearsal on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast last weekend. |
“The figures emphasise the new-for-2017 cars are a huge draw for fans. With the last three rallies in Spain, Great Britain and Australia still to be included, attendances across all 13 rounds are on course to shatter four million,” said WRC Promoter managing director Oliver Ciesla.
Eight of the 10 rallies have reported more spectators than last year, based on ticket sales, local authority and police estimates.
Italy recorded the biggest increase with crowds at the Sardinia event up by a huge 59 per cent.
Sweden’s move to a new base in Torsby delivered a 33 per cent rise for February’s snow and ice fixture. The drama of the rally-closing Power Stage finishing in the service park for the first time, followed immediately by the podium ceremony, generated a surge in fan numbers.
Argentina and Portugal both topped 950,000 spectators to remain the championship’s best-attended rounds, and a spectacular opening at Zócalo square in the heart of Mexico City helped the north American fixture top 550,000, more than 14 per cent higher than in 2016.
“WRC spectator numbers show a steady positive development since 2013. We expect the final 2017 figures to reveal an increase of nearly 30 per cent against those from just five seasons ago,” said Ciesla.
Explaining this year’s increase, he added: “Fans have loved the appeal of more powerful and spectacular World Rally Cars that have produced such great action, as well as the most exciting and unpredictable drivers’ title fight in a decade.”
Six different drivers representing four manufacturer teams have won a rally this year and three remain in title contention with two rounds left in Great Britain and Australia.