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Originally Posted by JimW
Well nearly.  As a new act would be required then the roads to be covered would be specified in that act.
Also what about the road closures for the Jim Clark rally? Same issues and that seems to happen each year.
Regards
Jim |
JC Rally took about 5 years to get the act - and that was in Scotland of course - slightly different rules - which is why Mull used to have a closed road Rally. JC Rally only has rolling road closures not full time.
As for B'ham - I have looked at the terms which were not breached and there was no time limit so the original act is still in effect - it's never been repealed. What I am saying is if the exact same circuit was used there would be no need to re-apply. However if new roads were to be used, or even a different configuration of the old track, then a new act would be required.
The talk of a competitive Rally stage seems to be ill-advised and badly researched. The act is a matter of public record and if I can do the research then surely the proponents of this new event should have done the same before announcing something which is virtually impossible to deliver. I have seen the original comments and the organisers seem to think they can move the event to whatever roads they wish and that getting a new act would be 'no problem'.
Frankly if a new act is required don't expect anything for 2-3 years at the earliest.
I have been at a couple of BRC Live! events and in most recent times they were run at an Army Camp on the outskirts of Nuneaton, private roads, a completely different scenario from what is being proposed here.
This whole scheme is being advocated by Advantage West Midlands - a Quango - although it seems from what I have read and heard that they don't want to finance the event itself. AWM did ante-up for the councillors to go to the IOM - again a very different situation by the way as the Island has two major advaintages when staging motor racing events;
a) No speed limits outside of Douglas - not just 70 MPH - NO speed limits, fast as you like mate...
b) It has a Parliament on the Island which has powers of self- determination on the Road Traffic Act as it applies to the Island - hence a) above.
According to AWM they want "a world class event" to bring the "halo effect" to Birmingham and the region. With the greatest of respect to Mark Taylor and the British Rally Championship the series is far from that. Indeed there are those that would argue that, at present, it isn't even the best National Rally Championship in Britain.
Sadly I think our hopes have been raised only to be dashed. If Birmingham really want a world class event then they need to be talking to Promoters/organisers who have the relevant experience. Public/Private partnerships are an extremely specialised area. Given the shortcomings of the rally proposal it is clear that AWM and BRC don't have the required depth of knowledge and experience.
This is not me having a rant - I'm just tired of ill-informed talk about this event....I hope that Birmingham and AWM are serious about bringing "world class" motor sport back to the streets - I never got to see the Superprix and I'm so cheesed off I missed it!!!!
Maybe we should have Mark Taylor on the show in the coming weeks - I;ll see if we can set it up...
JH