Dayinsure Wales Rally GB has earned the ‘Achievement of Excellence’ under the FIA Institute sustainability programme after demonstrating positive actions towards the environment at the penultimate round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship.
The UK round is the sixth event to be accredited and the third to achieve the top level in the programme, which is part of the FIA’s strategy towards raising global awareness of environmental management issues across motor sport and its efforts to reduce environmental impacts across the World Rally Championship.
Wales Rally GB has always strived to be a leader in sustainable event management and the organisers and promoters of the event, International Motor Sports Ltd, continue to refine their environmental efforts each year which has culminated with this award of Excellence from the FIA Institute.
In preparation for its 2016 round, the Dayinsure Wales Rally GB management team implemented an Environmental Management System throughout the event. This has resulted in a number of sustainability improvements ranging from the appointment of an event sustainability champion, the protection of water courses and the installation of meters at the service park to measure and monitor water usage – all of which were verified during an FIA audit at the 2016 event.
The IMS team also appointed Driven International to undertake independent audits of the Dayinsure Wales Rally GB Environmental Management System and will be using the system throughout 2017 as a tool to work towards becoming the first WRC event to achieve the ISO20121 standard.
Ben Taylor, Managing Director of International Motor Sports Ltd, said: “This is a significant achievement and one of which we are very proud. It is important to have sustainable practices at the heart of our event which in turn is good for the sport and good for the natural environment in which our event takes place.”
Garry Connelly, FIA Institute Deputy President and Environmental Ambassador said: “Congratulations to Wales Rally GB on this achievement. Rally events take place in settings that present unique challenges to motor sport stakeholders when it comes to the environment, so this is an impressive accomplishment.”