Blog: Rachel reports on WRC Rally Australia

The Inside Line's jet-setting PR executive Rachel Cavers has just returned from her longest World Rally Championship trip of the year - Rally Australia - and updates us on how the event went both on and off the stages.

RC: Sometimes I love my job - being asked to go to Australia to attend the tenth round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) as part of my work is quite nice really… the crazy journey to get there, jet-lag and lots of early starts, maybe not so much.

I’m required to travel to 13 world rallies so I spend three months out of the country each year on event. My job locations can vary from working at the lowest place on earth – 420 metres below sea level - for Jordan Rally, working in -30 degrees Celsius for snow-covered Rally Sweden or spending three excruciatingly long days on a bus travelling back from Rally Turkey after the ash cloud meant our whole team was left stranded in Istanbul.

Prior to a rally the drivers are often requested to take part in some pre-event PR activities, so for Australia we were asked to visit Sydney before the rally.  As we were going all that way, I thought I’d made the most of the trip down under and stayed with my old uni friend for a couple of days holiday first.

On the Sunday our drivers were requested for a photo shoot at the Sydney Tower followed by a press conference and an autograph signing. I then travelled up to Coffs Harbour (a beautiful coastal resort famous as the birth place of Russell Crowe and a Big Banana…)

Coffs was the base for the rally and my other 80 colleagues that had flown out for the event.  For a long-haul we often get a couple of days to acclimatise to the new time zone.  I just love jet-lag, don’t think I’ve seen 5am as often as when I do on a long-haul event, but an early morning stroll along our hotel’s deserted beautiful beach did help to ease the pain…

On the Wednesday evening before each rally we hold a driver media function – known as a “Happy Hour” – where our drivers meet with media before the rally for an informal chat over drinks and canapes. One of my colleagues thought it would be a good idea to host it in a local porpoise petting pool for Australia. What a great idea it was, I think it’s safe to say I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.  We had our drivers swimming with dolphins, being kissed by seals and handling some of the biggest snakes I have ever seen.  The photo opportunities were incredible and the images of our boys with the Aussie wildlife were well received by the press – both in Australia and back in the UK.

The Thursday evening saw the official start of the rally with a Super Special Stage in the town centre following by three long days competing in stages mostly set in the outback close to the rally base.

At the end of each leg, I write a press release about how our team are getting on including driver quotes. I send these out to my media distribution list and update our team social media channels.  As it turns out, Rally Australia was a fantastic event for M-Sport and Ford – by the end of the rally we had four of our Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Cars in the top five, including a Ford one-two and Britain’s Matthew Wilson matching a career-best fourth place. 

Let’s not mention one of our other drivers who managed to crash his car on the final day, rolling it several times and making his challenger resemble more of a two-seater sports car than a World Rally Car…

The end of rally party on a Sunday is usually a chance for the team to let their hair down after three very long and busy days working on the rally.  Our great result in Australia also meant that we had an extra reason to celebrate.

The following day our tired team boarded a plane and make the long journey home.  As soon as we’re back at M-Sport in Cumbria there’s not much time for a rest as we’re busy preparing for the next rally of the season – Rallye de France.  It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to do it!