Bobby Willis Exclusive Interview

In an exclusive interview with RallyForums.com, Bobby Willis has revealed more details on the Circuit of Ireland Rally’s withdrawal from the 2013 European Rally Championship. He reveals how one of the event’s backers pulled out at the last hour, and how he has financially supported the event over the past three years.

An excerpt from the interview is shown below – you can read the full article at RallyForums.com…

Why was the Circuit of Ireland forced to withdraw from the 2013 European Rally Championship (ERC)?

On Thursday (13 December), one of our major backers told us that they were no longer able to support the event and had to step down. It was something that was totally out of our control. It happened just three and a half hours before a public announcement was due to be made regarding the confirmed 2013 ERC dates, at the IRC awards ceremony in Paris.

The only way for us to stay within the ERC was for me to guarantee the sum myself, and hope to find a sponsor, some time before the rally. To have continued, with a hope of making the funding up, would have been more than irresponsible.

Once we knew we had to pull out of the European Rally Championship, the priority was to inform all of our sponsors, the management team, as well as our many backers. We had to react quickly. Then we issued a press release on the Friday morning. It was all very rushed.

Have you backed the event with your own finances in the past?

Yes. It has been a little bit like playing Russian Roulette for me, and the risks have been high. I’ve been trying to help the rally but I simply cannot continue to do this. I had already decided that I couldn’t make any more financial commitments to the event.

How much funding for the 2013 Circuit of Ireland had been achieved to date?

The majority of the funds had been agreed and we were able to commit to our budget, providing everybody stayed on board. Unfortunately, one backer had to pull out. The economic climate is terrible at the moment, and we all know this.

If funding was to become available between now and Easter, could the event still have ERC status?

Read Bobby’s answer to this question, and others, at RallyForums.com.