Response to Croatia Rally: Compliments and New Opportunities
The City of Zagreb and the surrounding cities have proven to be excellent organisers and hosts of the Croatia Rally which is confirmed by the offer they received to host several competitions of the World Rally Championship during another two years at least.
Photos of Zagreb and the surrounding area as the setting of the third competition in this year’s World Rally Championship in late – April travelled the world and confirmed excellent organising skills of the hosts as well as attractiveness of the locations. The best rally drivers of our times showed their skills in 20 speed tests on 300 kilometres of local roads of Karlovac, Krapina – Zagorje and Zagreb County and the City of Zagreb. Their performances and footage from Croatia reached around 150 countries and were reported by more than 200 foreign journalists and cameramen, which is the biggest number of world media representatives present live at a sport event in Croatia.
Even though the event took place in a challenging year in which the pandemic brought many restrictions, the hosts were able to put on a true rally spectacle which was praised both by drivers, teams, reporters but also numerous fans of car racing. The event was observed on the spot by numerous viewers, even though they were invited to watch the race on TV or online, because they did not want to miss this attractive competition. In addition to the adrenaline-packed competition, what caught the attention of viewers world-wide were also the images of a beautiful landscape which acted as an appealing postcard of the capital, its surroundings and the inland part of Croatia.
However, numbers connected to the race could be even more impressive and the experience more fulfilling next year because having a competition with numerous viewers gives the hosts the opportunity to present themselves to the visitors even better and organise interesting activities worthy of this world-renowned spectacle.