The Prime Yalta Rally’s first appearance on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge schedule in June is set to be an outstanding success according to two senior IRC officials who visited the Ukrainian city earlier this week.
Xavier Gavory, the IRC General Co-ordinator and Jean-Pierre Nicolas, the IRC Motorsport Development Manager, were in Yalta to assess preparations ahead of the fourth round of the IRC from 2-4 June.
“We have been very impressed both by the quality of the organisation and the quality of the stages,” said Gavory. “The stages are like what you find on Rallye Monte-Carlo and Tour de Corse with a very nice landscape to match. Every year the rally attracts thousands of fans and I’m sure there will be even more when the IRC comes to town. The rally is Ukraine’s second biggest sporting event behind the Euro 2012 football tournament and many celebrities and VIPs will be attending.”
During their visit Gavory and Nicolas took part in a press conference hosted by Evgeny Chervonenko, the chairman of the rally organising committee. He said: “We were honoured to receive such guests as Xavier Gavory and Jean-Pierre Nicolas in the Ukraine and we are pleased the preparations for Prime Yalta Rally 2011 are going according to plan. We are ready to welcome the thousands of IRC fans in Yalta and hope that they do not want to leave the Crimean Monte Carlo, the city of Yalta. We invite all the fans of motorsports to Ukraine in early June, and we promise we can show you a really interesting race and hospitality.”