Rally's championship status secured

Organisers want to ensure the safety of roads in south Wales

One of Wales' biggest sporting events will keep its World Rally Championship status, it was decided on Friday.

It was feared that the Wales Rally GB could be downgraded to non-championship status at a meeting of motorsport's governing body, Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), in Monaco.

The Welsh part of the competition has been in doubt since leading drivers were convicted of speeding at the event two years ago.

But organisers decided that it would keep its World Rally Championship status subject to the receipt of a satisfactory report regarding the safety of roads in south Wales.

Around 200,000 spectators turned out to watch this year's season ending Wales Rally GB.

The event - which was being staged in Wales for the third successive year - brought an estimated £15m to the local economy.

Last month, Neath Magistrates convicted 17 rally drivers of speeding during the rally in 2002.

They included Britain's former world champions Colin McCrae and Richard Burns, who were both had three penalty points imposed on their licences.

South Wales Police had launched a crackdown on speeding, and had caught the drivers as they travelled on public roads between the timed special stages.

Scot Colin McRae escaped a ban but was fined

The convictions led the FIA to suggest that the roads of south Wales were unsuitable for a world championship event, and that it should be downgraded.

Last month, organisers said there was "no question" of the event being threatened by the crackdown on speeding.

The FIA asked for a report on whether Welsh roads are "suitable" for a world championship event following the court cases.

But Andrew Coe, chief executive of Rally GB Ltd, said the FIA had given it an assurance that it was "delighted with the quality of the organisation of the event in Wales".