Costa Rica rally fans are awesome!!!

[Rallyswift_370]

Only in Lebanon (Middle East) have I seen such passion in the rally fans. You have something special here in Costa Rica but it seems the media are not aware of this. I was a little surprised to see a lack of media coverage for such a high profile event. They even got the names wrong of the Mexican teams which tells me they either do not care or not informed correctly. For sure they get all the football players names correct! Also I did not see much coverage of our talented national drivers. We have Remy, Marvin, Sergio, Gerado etc who give their all on the stages for little recognition. At the end of the day we need the sponsors and the sponsors need coverage.

While waiting for the ferry many fans expressed their desire to be in a rally car, it’s their dream their passion to do this. I liked the Peugeot “co-pilot for day” idea which brings the fans to their hero’s. I feel we should do this more often with all the cars. Like a rally EXPO mid season with a small closed road section to take the fans out. They get their dream and we get to practice!

Costs are a major factor in any sport and maybe more so in rallying with the constant beating our cars get. I liked the rally and how it was organized but because of budget restrains I stayed in a hotel down the road for $45 a night less . For me a lavish hotel or saving some $$$$ I will always take the saving just so I can rally. In the UK I took my own food and slept in the service van. I'm sure there are reasons for using certain hotels but cost is an important factor to the competitors. We have a lot of teams out there not rallying at present so we need to get them back out on the stages.

Some options used in California to bring in the entries:

1/ included in the entry fee was a raffle to give one team a free entry.

2/ early entry payment received a discount

3/ Gas companies gave free gas vouchers only a few $$$ but it was a help.

4/ very important! Beer companies gave free beer! Not much but some cases.

5/ workers were given incentives like T shirts and raffle prices.

6/ hotels gave discounted rates or allowed camping.

I enjoyed my rally in Costa Rica and the people I met and look forward to the next one.