BT Sport has signed a deal to broadcast live coverage of the FIA World Rally Championship.
The pay-TV sports channel’s coverage revs into gear with the opening event of the 2014 season next weekend, the famous Rallye Monte Carlo, running from January 14-19, and will complement ITV4’s existing deal for free-to-air highlights.
In total, BT Sport will screen 26 stages across the 13 rallies that make up the 2014 calendar, bringing regular live rallying back to UK screens for the first time since ESPN covered the ‘Power Stages’ during the 2011 WRC season.
BT Sport’s WRC coverage begins a mid-week season preview on January 15 followed by nightly coverage of the Monte Carlo Rally itself over the weekend of January 17-19.
There will be live coverage of both runs over the 10-mile Sospel-Breil sur Roya stage next Saturday afternoon and evening on BT Sport, the second run of which will be a ‘Power Stage’, which rewards its top three finishers with bonus championship points.
Coverage of all other 12 rallies will include a preview and a review show for each rally and a daily highlights show, which will all run across BT Sport’s three channels – BT Sport 1 and 2, and ESPN.
The WRC is widely regarded as one of the most challenging motorsport competition in the world and adds to BT Sport’s expanding motorsports portfolio, which also includes exclusive MotoGP coverage, DTM and IndyCar.
Established in its current format in 1973, the WRC’s top drivers and manufacturers will be battling it out in 2014 for the 42nd annual drivers’ and manufacturers’ championship trophies in rallies spread across 13 countries and 3 continents.
World Rally Cars are not ordinary cars. While they look similar to the ones you might see in your local car showroom, just about everything about them is different.
WRC cars are turbocharged, 1.6 litre, four-wheel drive monsters that develop more than 300bhp and masses of torque.
The result is a car that can accelerate from a standing start to 62mph in around three seconds, regardless of the road surface, and can – in the right hands – power slide between the trees on a narrow gravel track under full control at more than 120 mph.
BT Sport viewers will now be able to follow the fortunes of top British drivers Elfyn Evans and Kris Meeke, as well as international stars Sebastien Ogier – the defending world champion – Mikko Hirvonen, Thierry Neuville and Jari-Matti Latvala.
Northern Irishman Meeke will drive for Citroen in 2014 and this will be the first time that British driver has been part of a main factory team since the days when Richard Burns and Colin McRae brought the sport to the British public’s attention in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
With the WRC aiming to rebuild its profile following a tough period over the past few seasons, the 2014 season will see more manufacturer interest with the return Hyundai for the first time since the 2003.
Ogier and his Volkswagen team begin the defence of their title in Monte Carlo and you can follow all the action throughout the season on BT Sport.
Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “We are thrilled to be able to show the World Rally Championship, possibly the most demanding motorsport contest in the world.
“BT Sport can now offer viewers two of the biggest motorsport properties in the world, WRC and MotoGP.
“We will bring the viewers closer to the action, the drivers and the teams, with live and behind the scenes coverage.”
Oliver Ciesla, managing director of the WRC Promoter, said: “We are delighted with this exciting new partnership with BT Sport.
“They will be a broadcast partner that will deliver extensive coverage of the WRC to rally fans in the UK throughout the entire season, with a strong focus on local drivers and on Wales Rally GB and with regular live programmes from all international events in 2014.”
BT Sport’s live WRC TV deal does not affect the championship’s arrangement for free-to-air coverage with ITV Sport, who brought the WRC back to mainstream UK television last season.
ITV4 will continue to screen one-hour highlights of each WRC event on Tuesday evenings following each rally.
In addition, dedicated motorsports channel Motors TV has announced that daily highlights of each WRC event will return to its screens in 2014.
With BT Sport, ITV4 and Motors TV screening the WRC in 2014, along with Welsh language coverage on S4C, the range of TV viewing options available to fans this year is in stark contrast to recent seasons.
The championship began the 2013 season without a UK broadcast partner, until ITV stepped in from round three onwards with its one-hour highlights show, while the previous season was only available to watch via Motors TV following a change in promoter.
It is hoped that this spate of new TV deals, combining live pay-TV with terrestrial highlights, will help mark a resurgence in rallying’s popularity in the UK.
For more information on the 2014 World Rally Championship season, visit the official website.
Not a BT Sport subscriber? Find out how to get BT Sport via bt.com/sport
OK it’s already 12th Jan, the event starts on 14 Jan 2014, so I just checked the TV listings up to the 19th Jan for BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2, ESPN, and ITV4 for the next few days, and a few days in advance for British Eurosport 1 and 2 and Motors TV…
…and I can’t find the Monte Carlo rally listed anywhere on UK TV. Anyone found it yet in the listings?
At least my Virgin XL package covers BT Sport 1,2 and ESPN as standard (albeit in SD with my old TV and old V box). I remember back when the BBC used to cover the RAC rally of GB (when it was in England as well, NOT just Wales) and their programmes were very good. And a few years back the IRC Monte Carlo coverage was excellent beyond words on (I think it was?) Eurosport with Carlton Kirby (I like his friendy and light hearted narrations!). Was hoping for really good long coverage of it this time round in the same way (after nearly nothing in the last few years) but either it’s all lies or c*ck up and they couldn’t organise a p*ss up in a brewery or maybe the TV shedules are going to be hastily amended shortly. Keep your eyes peeled! We don’t wanna miss the Monte!
Hi Alistair.
BT Sport’s schedules are likely to update over the next couple of days. We’ll be posting full listings on this site for Rally Monte Carlo shortly, so stay tuned!
What we can tell you at this stage is that ITV4’s one-hour highlights show for Monte Carlo will be broadcast on Tuesday, January 21, at 8.00pm.
There will be no WRC coverage on British Eurosport in 2014.
Motors TV’s coverage starts on Thursday (Jan 16) with a half-hour highlights show at 10.35pm. Days 2-4 will be shown in the same time slot from Friday through to Sunday.
Hope this helps. SOTB.
From no TV deals exactly a year ago to four now, WRC seems to be making progress in the UK. Hopefully BT Sport will push it like they have done so with promoting MotoGP.
Don’t have BT at the moment though will be certainly looking into it. ITV4’s highlights will do for now.
Great news for WRC. Glad to hear ITV have kept free to air coverage, but BT’s programmes should take the championship on to the next level. Add the British drivers in top cars and fingers crossed the WRC is in good shape for 2014.