Channel 4 launches rally coverage

Three programmes will be broadcast from each of the 14 rounds on the WRC calendar. One half-hour programme on Friday evenings will be followed by hour-long broadcasts on both Saturday and Sunday. There will also be a Saturday preview a week before each event.

The line-up of presenters are former Sky News presenter Jon Desborough who will be in the studio, with Penny Mallory (from Channel 4's Driven) and Jeremy Hart at the stages and in the service area. Robbie Head, a former gravel note driver for world champion Richard Burns, will offer expert analysis.

Channel 4 will incorporate the latest computer technology to take viewers closer to the rallying action. The top 30 cars will each have in-car cameras mounted on the front windscreen, out of the back windscreen, in the foot-well, on the front bumper, on the dashboard and behind the wheel.

There will be over 50 trackside camera positions for each rally and a helicopter following every stage.

Using 'Black box technology', the plan is to broadcast an up-to-date rally leaderboard including split timings alongside engine temperature, gear selection and driver's heart-rate. Future developments include the option of selecting from a number of different views to watch the rally during a live broadcast and eventually using computer handsets compete against the worlds top rally drivers.

Neil Duncanson, Executive Producer of Channel 4's world rally coverage, said: "World rally is particularly well suited to the application of technology, there is so much data pouring back from the cars, it is quite staggering. But we want to use the information to tell the story and not merely to submerge the viewers in meaningless facts."