Most popular rally of 2010 revealed
Rally France-Alsace has been revealed as the most popular event on the 2010 World Rally Championship calendar - drawing in almost 70 million television viewers, well above the average.
More than 69 million people tuned into the event worldwide last year - representing the highest TV audience of any of the season's 13 outings - and many of them were no doubt delighted to celebrate a home triumph for the WRC's 'record man' S?bastien Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena, with more than 800 television and radio items broadcast about the pair over a five-day period, some 170 per day.
The average WRC viewership per rally is 45 million, with a total of 600 million TV viewers over the course of the 2010 campaign - an increase of three per cent in relation to 2009. The lowest figure recorded last season was 32 million for Rally Catalunya three weeks after the French round, and similarly won by Messrs. Loeb and Elena.
"Rally France-Alsace not only enjoys huge popularity at both regional and national levels, but also on the international scene in the WRC," affirmed Nicolas Deschaux, President of the F?d?ration Fran?aise du Sport Automobile (FFSA).
"The modern dynamic image of the event is reinforced by the French champions and manufacturers, whose results ensure wide-scale media visibility and popular enthusiasm - thus increasingly high media coverage for Rally France.
"The communications strategy developed by the French Motor Sports Federation's organisation is aimed at widening the appeal of the event, and also at improving its image. Rally France is an event that enjoys widespread popularity, and this year it will attract millions of TV viewers who will be able to see one of the biggest events on the French sporting calendar live."
