Fans want Rally GB to keep November slot

A move to a September date, offering better weather and more consistent surfaces on the Welsh forest stages, is currently being considered by the sport's governing body, the FIA, for 2002.

However, a survey of spectators conducted after last year's event on behalf of the rally's organisers, the Motor Sport Association, showed that almost 80 per cent wanted the rally to keep its early winter slot.

The survey also allayed fears that charging spectators on the forest stages for the first time last year would have a negative effect on spectator numbers in future events. Only 15 per cent described the passes as poor value for money, with 97 percent saying they would return again in 2001.

As an interesting aside, 45 per cent of those surveyed wanted Richard Burns to win the event, with 44% opting for Colin McRae.

Rally Australia will stay based in Perth for the foreseeable future after the Western Australian government and TV rights-holders ISC negotiated a new three-year deal. The state government has also inked a long-term deal with CAMS, the Australian governing body, to further strengthen the rally's ties with Perth. "The combination of these two agreements will put an end to speculation about the event's future in Western Australia," said the state's development minister Clive Brown.