Motorsport: Major live TV upgrade for World Rally Championship coverage

Sebastien Ogier in action during WRC Great Britain last year. Photo / Getty Images

WRC fans can look forward to watching unprecedented live coverage of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship under ground-breaking plans to transform the way the series is broadcast.

For the first time in the championship's history, every special stage from each round will be shown as it happens. Additional live coverage will include the opening and podium ceremonies, press conferences and driver autograph sessions.

WRC Promoter, the championship's commercial rights holder, will offer more than 25 hours of coverage from each rally as a continuous live stream, including expert analysis from the WRC's TV studio and breaking news, interviews and reactions from across the service park.

Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon is delighted about the new deal, which will allow his fans to follow his progress much better in 2018.

"WRC All Live is a pretty significant development for WRC moving forwards," he said. "Allowing fans around the world to follow the sport even more closely than ever before is a very good thing. From my point of view, with all the fans watching in NZ, it is going to be awesome that they can now watch all the stages and follow us like never before."

Announcing the new WRC All Live service at the season launch at Autosport International Show in Birmingham on Thursday, WRC Promoter managing director Oliver Ciesla called the plans 'pioneering'.

"WRC fans now have the choice and flexibility to join the live action at any time during a rally weekend," he said. "Fans can choose to watch the stages they like best and enjoy unprecedented live access to the service areas, whenever they want and from wherever they are."

Numerous stageside and onboard cameras, helicopters, drones and a production team of almost 100 people will provide thrilling coverage of the WRC's stars battling for crucial tenths of a second in conditions as extreme as the frozen forests of Sweden and the raw heat of Sardinia.

WRC All Live will be available in English on the championship's www.wrcplus.com subscription channel.

"With WRC+, All Live can be watched anywhere, anytime and on any device – computer, laptop, smart TV, smartphone or tablet," added Ciesla.

"Fans won't have to miss a thing as all stages can be watched live or on demand and an interactive programme guide will provide information to steers fans easily through each day."

WRC All Live will begin with a live stream from the opening two stages at Rallye Monte-Carlo on Thursday 25 January.

"WRC All Live is the logical development of WRC+. A continuous live stream is the appropriate format for an endurance sport that runs for two-and-a-half days," said Ciesla.

"It will also become an important new tool for journalists, teams, rally organisers and safety delegates working in the WRC."