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The World Rally Championship is working on breakthrough gaming technology which would allow rally fans to compete for their own world title on real-time events from the comfort of their own homes.

Chairman of International Sportsworld Communicators - the global promoter of the WRC - Neil Duncanson has confirmed that live gaming is the one of the next major steps in the development of the series.

He said: “Unlike any other major sport, the WRC is absolutely built for live gaming. That’s the ability for you or I to sit at home our sofas and drive in a rally in real time on your computer.”

ISC is exploring the technology to allow on-line gamers to start the same rally at the same time as the actual competitors in the World Rally Championship. Through ongoing virtual computer developments allied to ISC’s own ground-breaking on-stage mapping technology, the dreams of rally fans across the world will soon be realised. And they could even be recognised at the highest level.

Duncanson adds: “When I explained this plan to [FIA president] Max Mosley, he was very taken with the idea. And he has offered me the opportunity, when we get this up and running, to award a trophy to the winner of the on-line World Rally Championship at the same time that we are handing out the actual silverware to the world champions at the FIA’s awards evening in Monte Carlo.

“This is the next level up. It’s what computer gaming people are looking for. We’ve done computer game simulation and we’ve done simulation XR3i and now they’re all looking for the next step. That step is reality and actually being part of a real event. You can’t do that in Formula 1, you can’t do that in football, but you can do it in world rally. When Rally Australia starts in couple of weeks, people could be sat at home preparing themselves to start that event - we’re not very far off that. We’ve been talking to some of the major computer game companies and the technology is there to enable us to do it now. It’s just a question of getting what are fairly hefty development costs underwritten by one of these guys and then we’re away.”

You can read an extended interview with Neil Duncanson on wrc.com -> http://wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=5826&desc=Q&A%20with%20Neil%20Duncanson

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fonte WRC.com

Q&A with Neil Duncanson

Neil Duncanson is the CEO of North One Television and the chairman of International Sportsworld Communicators - the commercial powerhouse behind the World Rally Championship. It’s Neil and his colleagues, along with all the key stakeholders, who have been responsible for the turnaround of the WRC. It’s that turnaround - conducted in the trickiest of economic climates - which has delivered fresh multi-year commitments from Citroen and Ford, two of the world’s biggest car manufacturers. And it’s that turnaround which will keep the WRC at the cutting edge of motorsport technology, sporting prowess and entertainment.

Neil took five minutes to offer wrc.com an insight into his world. And, most importantly, he tells us who’s going to win this year’s World Rally Championship. Well, sort of...

Neil, it’s almost two years since North One Television took control of [World Rally Championship rights holder] International Sportsworld Communicators. How has that first couple of years been from your perspective?

It was always going to be a long-term plan. We’ve got through stage one, the take-over and we have stopped the tanker and turned it around. When North One took ISC over in 2007, it was in a financial hole to the tune of multiple seven figures - but we’ve got the tanker going the right way now. Of course we ran into the biggest economic slowdown in history, but we’re now emerging from those times stronger, more stable and in better shape than ever. We’ve got a better-looking calendar for 2010 and we’ll be submitting the 2011 calendar later in the year. We’ve put together a really sharp stakeholder board to drive the WRC forward; we’ve got new technical regulations agreed and that stability is already attracting new sponsors and television interest. We’ve also signed our first long-term deal with an event - with Rally Finland for the next five years. Others will follow very soon.

What’s the next step?

When the economy starts to come back, we will already be ahead of the game in quite a big way. I would like another couple of manufacturers in the WRC, there’s no questions about that - but I don’t want any more than four. When we came in as a television partner in 2000, there were seven manufacturers and I don’t think that was effective at all. Beyond the fourth manufacturer, the other three didn’t stand a chance of winning a rally - or even coming close to a podium and I don’t think that was particularly healthy for those manufacturers. So, I think four and a lot of customer teams to keep the championship competitive is ideal. I feel very positive about this sport, the championship and the future. Like I said, this is not about short-term gain for North One. We’ve got a contract [for the global promotion of the WRC] until the end of 2020 and my owners are very supportive of the WRC.

What about live television. How important is that for the future?

Live television is a big part of the future, but there are different types of live. There’s coverage of a normal rally stage which is extraordinarily expensive and not that televisual. You cover a 25-min stage and it’s not generally the best television you’ll ever see. Superspecial stages are a bit more entertaining, but they’re not for the purist. We’re caught in the middle. I think the most effective way of doing it is a live presentation which is like a rolling, three-day soap opera.

How would that work?

A television partner will come in and have a live operation from the service park and the end of stages and anchor their coverage from there. This will bring the whole thing to life. You and I know how a rally plays out because we go to the events. But to fans sitting at home watching the one-hour highlights show, it can come across as a group of fast cars going around corners, jumping and sometimes crashing into the scenery. We need bring the marathon element of the three days to life.

That doesn’t sound terribly simple...

It’s not something we can do automatically on our own. We need the television partners to come with us and that’s what we’re trying to do at the moment. The bigger picture is a combination of stability, increased interest from organisers and manufacturers, then investment from sponsors and television partners - all of which means a bigger, better sport and better value for fans. It also means we can attract new fans.

But you’ll need stations with programming capacity?

You need the hours, you’re absolutely right. You’re not going to get five or six hours worth of programming time on any major terrestrial station and everybody has to accept that. So, what you need is a balance of finding those sports networks and then finding a terrestrial window, maybe with a day-delay, where you can do a one-hour highlights show. That’s what we’re after. It’s about getting those people stuck into the whole ebb and flow of a rally. Giving them an insight into the way our sport evolves over three days; not one hour on a Sunday evening.

Tell us about your background in the sport. Have you been a rally fan for long?

I used to watch it on television when I was young. I’d watch Walter Rohrl in the Audis, Roger Clark - I can even vaguely remember the Minis on the Monte with Paddy Hopkirk - I’m that old. Rallying was always on my radar, but I wasn’t one of those guys who was running around the forests like a lot of people I know. But, I guess, when it becomes part of your business you do become enmeshed in it. I really think it’s a fantastic sport and deserves far better exposure than it’s been given up until now.

So, tell us, who’s going to be champion this year?

I’ve run that through in my head a couple of times and it could go either way. Rally Australia will be pivotal. I can see Sebastien [Loeb] winning in Spain and Mikko [Hirvone] winning GB, so whoever wins Australia or, perhaps more importantly, whoever doesn’t make a major mistake in Australia will win the championship.

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Back in June, I published first news about a new World Rally Championship simulation that is planned to be released in 2011.

As reported back then, a key-feature of the new WRC sim will be iOpener

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qualche piccola notizia interessante arriva da Twitter...

iOpener MT arrived in Finland for WRC rally. Exciting meetings and stages coming up.
What a rally country Finland is! The Finnish are great and we thank them for their support! Had good meetings e.g. with Ari Vatanen...

facciamo 2 + 2 ?....

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