NBA Play-off updates....crunch time's a coming !

Well it's an interesting twist on events ! Phoenix Suns have managed to level San Antonio Spurs best-of-seven series Western Conference with a win yesterday 104-98. This is going to be interesting for the Suns as they try to upstage the Spurs.

In another game, Cleveland Cavaliers sneaked a quick basket to take the series at 3-1 (87-85 victory) over the New Jersey Nets.
In today's games Detroit will look to end the series with a victory over Chicago while Utah will hope to finish off Golden State. But I'm sure there might be a suprise or two ! The Conference Finals ought to be serious fights of supremacy as each of the final teams look to out-do each other. Are we looking at some re-alignment of the strong teams? Is it possible that there will be a new NBA Champ from a previously unheralded team? Keep watching ....NBA...it's fan--ta--stic !

Golf and Tourism…well it’s a gold mine!

Yes! Finally got it…. It’s true that there’s lots of ideas lying out there just waiting to be dug out. Golf & tourism… yes that’s it! Golf ought to be not just a game but more of a lifestyle. According to one Mr. Tob Cohen a retired head of a Dutch major conglomerate, golf is one of the best sports and lifestyles that Kenya can offer. Through his firm, Tobs Kenya Golf Safaris, he is out to use the game from that of the elite to one of leisure and foreign tourist who would want to add variety to their trip.

He has set out to make this country a host with ‘world-class standards and service with widely available tee-times’. Since he started operations in 1991, he has been able to lure an average of 2-55 golfers/sport tourists, with the bookings averaging 7-10 days with some even extending to 14 days. He has also helped start the Kenya Golf Marketing Alliance with two other competing firms.
This seeks to promote Kenya as a golfing destination, achieve a sizeable share of the world’s golf travel market as well as attract medium to high spending tourists not only interested in game safaris but also beautiful Kenyan fairways. This he justifies with the facts below;
- There are about 60 million golfers worldwide translating to a potential spend of US$ 12 billion. With just 1 % of that population, it would translate to around US $ 20 million (approx. KShs. 14 billion).
- These golf tourists spend 50 % more than your average tourist.
- Big destinations for golf tournaments include ; Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal in Europe; Carolina, Arizona and Florida in USA ; Dubai, Thailand and Turkey in Asia with South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritius from Africa taking the top slots.
Quick Facts about Kenyan Golf:
There are 40 golf courses: 12 of which are 18-hole; 10 are for championships events and 6 are within a 20-km radius of the City of Nairobi.
The oldest golf course (18-hole) is Royal Nairobi Golf Club opened by the British colonialists in 1906.
The latest golf course is using a David Jones design. There is also the pay-and-play golf course at the Golf Park at Ngong Racecourse-managed by top Kenyan golfer, Jacob Okello.
Do check this link for much more details on this interesting venture www.kenya-golf-safaris.com
Other important links:
www.shop-of-golf.com
www.worldgolf.com

Are there any Kenyan Sports brands ?

The world over, we've had some outstanding sports brands ( either personalities or teams, or even leagues)! On this list I would include such sports people as Michael Jordan, Pele, Tiger Woods,Williams sisters, Chicago Bulls (in the 1990s), Manchester United, NBA , UEFA Champions League. In Africa, they maybe few and far between but I'd quickly state; South Africa's Rugby team, Cameroon's national football team, Mozambique's Maria Mutola as the list narrows down.
In Kenya, do we have what we would call true Kenyan brands ?
Before we answer that question, let's look at what would qualify one to be a brand.
From Wikipedia.com, a brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer. Another defition which might be more appropriate in our discussion identifies a brand " a unique and identifiable symbol, association, name or trademark which serves to differentiate competing products or services. Both a physical and emotional trigger to create a relationship between consumers and the product/service".
I will highlight a brief on Michael Jordan to give a preview of what a brand( name) could do and its effect on the person and figures too.

Michael Jordan!- one of sports most marketed and coveted sports figure in history. He was a basketball player from mid-80s, retired twice in the mid 1990s and after winning first '3-peat' in NBA Play-offs before making a comeback with the Washington Wizards in 2001.
His endorsements while active (and some still extend to this day) included MacDonalds, Chevrolet,Coca-Cola, Gatorade and most important Nike. At the height of his career, he was generating $40million worth of endorsements with Nike alone accounting for $17-18 million alone. In 1998, Fortune magazine estimated Michael Jordan's impact on the US ( and to some extent the world) economy at a whopping $10 billion.
In addition to that, during his playing days, he was able to make such a huge impact to the NBA, that they recorded some of the highest TV rights earnings which helped the League reach a wider global audience than anytime before.Even after his retirement, there have been instances where he has added his clout to the game influencing major decisions such as acquisition (but since relinquished) of Washington Wizards, endorsement of a US-manufactured vehicle among others. His profile is just too good to ignore and to sweet a marketer's delight !
Come back to Kenya. Do we have what it takes to reflect such effectiveness and enormity of a brand in sporting circles ?
I have done my quick ( not very conclusive & quantitative) analysis and come up with a few candidates for this. You're entitled to a comment (addition or subtraction) from the list;
Individuals:
1.Paul Tergat- Rating AA
2.Catherine Ndereba- AB
3.Conjestine Achieng- AB
4.Steve Tikolo- BA
5.Jacob Okello-BA
6.Dennis Oliech-BB
7.Dunford brothers- BC
8.Dorcas Nandasaba/Janet Wanja-BC
Teams:
Rugby Sevens National team
Cricket National team
Kenya Pipeline women's volleyball
Tusker FC
Harambee Stars
Kenyan X-country team
There are also other upcoming athletes and sporting personalities that I would add to this list;
such as
Robert Cheruiyot
Fatuma Zarika
Pina Ercolano
Dennis Mwanja
More on this in an article to be published soon....
Thus let's reflect on this critically and see what possibilities there are to using these sports people and teams to enhance our products (as private/public companies), awareness creation campaigns such as Keep Off Drugs etc, and even as our country's Goodwill Ambassadors. That way we will not only appreciate their efforts as individuals but also have them engage our youth in productive activities. It will show that sport can help make a living too.

All Africa Games 2007

The Ninth All African Games begin in the Algeria in July. It is another opportunity for Kenya to showcase its sporting prowess among Africa's top countries. Some of the disciplines will use the Games as qualification to next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing.
As such it ought to be an urgent and serious assignment and it would only be prudent that the preparations be underway and be taken with much caution and skill. The reality? Most of the sports associations are yet to start their schedules and arrangements are not even in place.
This is the sad affair that is our country's sporting affairs. The government has put in place the management team led by Eng. Maurice Aluanga. The Minister has also added that much of what needs to be done ought to be laid out by the individual disciplines with the Government only assisting in the final stages.
Are you seeing what I see ? "We do not have enough funds to conduct training for the players"...." we ask the Government to intervene...blah,blah,blah"...."we'll have to leave out some disciplines due to lack of funds "
What more can I say?

Weekend that was

Over the weekend a number of sporting events were on;
Football:
First the end of the English Premier League. This saw Man U end the season on a low with a loss over Tevez-fired revival West Ham 1-0 hence the latter's survival. Chelsea also drew with Everton and Drogba came to the rescue as usual. Arsenal summed up their woes with a disappointing 0-0 draw over Portsmouth. Wigan managed to beat Sheffield United to stay in the Premier league.
Further analysis of the League in later posts.
In Spain, Real Madrid hold a joint top position with Barcelona with 66 points to go as the Primera Liga enters its final stages, with four games each to go. It ain't over yet with the title likely to go either Barca's, Sevilla or Real Madrid's way !
In Germany, Stuggart went top of the league after a win as Schalke lost and Werder Bremen had another disappointing weekend.It's a tricky one too to call with 3 games left for each team in the Bundesliga.
Italian football saw Roma seal second position with AC Milan & Lazio fighting for 3rd position. Juventus look certain to be promoted back to Serie A with a win over the weekend.

Rugby:
Kenya's Shujaa team -Seven-a-side team lost 12-17 to Morocco in the Plate semi-final of the African Rugby Confederation held in Tangiers, Morocco. This was after losing in the main Cup to Zimbabwe 0-19. Some of the members will join the Sevens team scheduled to play in the last 2 rounds of the IRB Sevens circuit in London and Edinburgh in the coming weeks. There is also the Tusker Safari Sevens which hopes to be included in the circuit soon.

Volleyball:

Kenya Pipeline pipped KCB 3-2 sets to win the East and Central Africa Club Championships (women). This was a foregone conclusion as the Kenyan teams continued their dominance over the game in the region. Most of the members of these teams however were using this to prepare for the All-Africa Games which are scheduled to be held in Algiers, Algeria in July.

Motorsport:

The F1 results from the Spanish Grand Prix had Felipe Massa-Ferrari win this over Lewis Hamilton-McLaren who now takes the Championships lead by two points over team-mate Fernando Alonso. This is bound to be an interesting season for the young drivers rival each other for the title fight which is likely to go down to the wire. This was Massa's second 1st position finish of the year.


Basketball:
From the local scene, confusion reigned this weekend as some of the fixtures had to be rescheduled following the dissolution of Ulinzi men's team and Telkom women's team. However Co-op Bank continued their good start to the League in the men's Premier League. Sprite Storms also look good to challenge for the top slot in the women's top flight league.


While in the NBA Play-offs, Chicago Bulls pulled one back to fight a sweep by the Detroit Pistons by winning 102-87 in game 4 of the best of 7 series of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Utah Jazz in the other game showed why they ought to be a challenger for the NBA Finals by beating Golden State Warriors 115-101 to take the lead 3-1 in the Western Conference.

Boxing:
Thomas ‘Black Rhino’ Okusi clinched the East and Central Africa heavyweight boxing title through a technical knockout when he floored Ahmed Eddie Dyle of Tanzania in the first round.
It was disappointment for the fans as the non -title fight which was the curtain-raiser for the other fight,turned out to be a mismatch .This was the fight Conjestina Achieng and Jalala Salum of Tanzania . The Tanzanian was worse than a novice boxer and it was no surprise that she lost.

End of English Season 2006-7

Torture and long weekends are on the way brothers ! The end of the English Premier League comes to an end this weekend and it must be bliss to all the ladies who've lost their gents to the game.
The games to be played on Sunday the 13th will be mostly formalities except for the third, fourth and fifth-bottom teams. Wigan, West Ham and Sheffield United all have the possibility of slipping to the less lucrative First Division League ( also known as the Nationwide League). There was an issue of West Ham being deducted points for fielding Carlos Tevez-who was said to have been acquired under some dubious deal. However he has managed to salvage his season and come back in a big way making sure that West Ham at least have that one last chance of surviving in the Premiership.
As for the top teams,the battle will be for third place with Arsenal hoping to pull a fast one on Liverpool (who have decided to go for the UEFA Champs League glory instead).
Some interesting takes on the 2006-07 season coming soon......!

Kenyan Basketball Scene-Sad Story

As I write this,it pains me a lot to see a sport which has so much potential and appeal go slowly almost sinking into oblivion. What happens with Kenyan sports? Is it the audience that gets bored so quickly ? Is it the officials who are lethargic to change (hence maintain the status quo)? Or is it lack of support and sustainability mechanisms which make this happen?
I've looked at a couple of sporting disciplines and the same line keeps repeating itself....We're unable to continue supporting the team(s)/league/federation..hence our withdrawal from the sport ....
Last week's story about Telkom's and Ulinzi sudden dissolution from the Kenya Basketball Premier League added another epitaph to the crowded scene that is the 'grave'of Kenyan sports. This means that two of the top-tier teams have left without much ado from the League.
If I'm not mistaken, last year there was the withdrawal of Coke-Kenya's sponsorship of the men's team. I'd also think there was another team that was dissolved for the same reasons. What is wrong ?
I'd look at this from three different points;
1. Fan base
2. Private support(vis-a vis Government intervention)
3. Federation's role.
1. Fan-base: Most sports anywhere in the world need fans to be able to get some sort of income from their operations. Be it live action or pay-per-view this means there has to be a fan base. What incentives are there for a fan intending to watch a live game at the Nyayo National Gymnasium in a game e.g. between Mennonites and Postbank ?
Are there any improvements or additional activities that can be added to make it possible for me to look forward to a game of basketball either at Nyayo or any of our TV channels in Kenya ? Answer YES.
2. Private support(Government intervention): Most private firms(read companies here) invest a lot in their companies. This is in terms of manpower, IT and also in PR and marketing. What better way would it be to have not just a sporting complex but also a team in most of the disciplines? This will not only give the company much-needed public awareness but the employees will be able to harness their skills not just at their work-places but in the fields of play too. It also will reduce the advertising and publicity budget substantially (i.e. especially so for winning teams).
It should also be noted that for an investor(both private or public) to be able to make a return, some initial capital must be put in. This would be the case in building of sports complex, stadia, gymnasiums, play fields among others. There must be specialised training in all sectors not just in the field but also in management of the teams and resources.
3. Federation's role: It is the responsibility of the Federation ( or Association/Union) to see to it that they have a successful league or framework under which it works and runs its affairs in. No reasonable person wants to be associated with failure. It is also the duty of the same to ensure that all branches of the main organisation are working and are active enough.
This makes it possible to detect any problems or suspect moves that may ruin the organisation's goals. It would also be prudent to welcome views not just of the public, but outsiders, stakeholders and other interested parties to be able to carry out a transparent review both internally and in the eyes of the public.

That's my take on this.
I would be willing to offer more insights on the same at a later date but I'd be jumping the gun on ongoing work. Keep here for more on this !

Weekend Wrap

Being a weekend ,there was enough sporting action for everyone. Let's take a quick tour;
Football:
I'll not comment on the local scene just yet (check previous posts for reasons).
As such let's take the European circuit starting with England.
Man United corked their bottles of champnagne albeit a day after their win at Manchester derby. They'd won the game against Man City 1-0. Closest rivals Chelsea could only manage a draw at Emirates after making a late rally and equalising through Michael Essien. Thus the Wednesday game will be as one commentator said, "for the Man United players to blow kisses to their fans at Stamford bridge"
Spain: Barcelona still lead though Real Madrid kept the race tight with 3-2 win over Sevilla.
Italy: Inter Milan have long taken the league. Roma ,Lazio and AC Milan follow in pursuit of second, third and fourth place.
Germany: The fight for first place is between Schalke 04,VFB Stuttgart and Werder Bremen with Bayern Munich having lost the fight hence settling for fourth place.
More info on www.soccernet.com
Basketball:
First in the local scene, shock news greeted the fraternity after Ulinzi - men's team and last year's winners of the League Play-offs had sponsorship withdrawn by the Department of Defence. Telkom women's team also lost support and also lost almost all their players through the ongoing restructuring at Telkom. They were also the reigning women's champs in the play-offs. As such the League has lost two of its top sides. More on this on another story. Check www.eurobasket.com/africa/kenya for more stories.

As for the NBA Play-offs, the favourites continued where they left for game 1 of the Semi-finals of the Conference games.
Cleveland Cavs 81- New Jersey Nets 77
San Antonio Spurs 111- Phoenix Suns 106
check www.nba.com for more details.
Boxing:
Oscar de la Hoya lost to Floyd Mayweather in a 12 round fight. The WBC light middleweight fight was more of an 'absorbing fight rather than a classic fight' with de la Hoya starting out well before showing some exhaustion and losing points to Mayweather in later rounds.

Mayweather who managed to get his father back into his camp in time for the fight ( Mayweather Sr had been coaching de la Hoya previously...talk of blood running thicker than water...)had his 'prayers' answered as the decision was announced. This was billed as the richest boxing bout ever having netted a record $19 million in arena tickets within 3 hours and was the most watched at $55 for pay-per view in the US.
Golf:

Tiger Woods fought to come back and win the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte by two strokes. Woods hit a three-under 69 to finish on 13 under, two clear of second placed Stricker. Phil Mickelson and Rory Sabbatini tied in third place.
Motorsport:
Frenchman Sebastien Loeb won the Rally of Argentina to make it 3 out of 3 in the World Rally Championship. He managed to stave off stiff opposition from Marcus Gronholm by giving him a 36.7 second lead into the last special stage of the Rally.
Another Finn Mikko Hirvonen rounded off the podium finishes. The standings carry the same semblance with all the 3 retaining their positions in 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively as they go into the next round of Rally of Italy later this month.

Quick Note

As it were, Kenya Airways lost its personnel and the passengers on their flight from Cameroon-Douala-KQ Flight 507. Sending hearfelt regards to families,friends and all who have lost in the tragic news over the weekend.

Martial Arts - a few lessons !

I have encountered enough comments from people who do not understand the different form of martial arts. They keep confusing Tae-kwon-do with Shotokan and other forms. Let me just say it's quite a tricky sport since most forms of arts emphasise on either hands or legs or even both.
"A basic understanding of the purpose of martial arts is to defend oneself. And one has to pledge that he would only use his or her skills for self defence before embarking on this task," as one Kaizer Karimbhai a martial arts expert in Kenya would say. He also adds a basic in all forms of martial arts, ‘Never strike the first blow’.
Most of the arts have their background from Asia more so China, Japan and Korea. Other forms may have originated in Brazil (i.e.capoeira). From Wikipedia, martial arts vary widely, and may focus on one or more of these areas:

I.Striking
a)Punching - Boxing, Shao-Lin Long Fist, Wing Chun
b)Kicking - Capoeira, Savate, Taekwondo, Taekkyon
c)Other strikes (e.g.Elbows, knees, open-hand) - Karate, Muay Thai

II.Grappling
a)Throwing - Glima, Judo, Jujutsu, Sambo
b)Pinning Techniques - Wrestling, Judo
c)Joint lock - Aikido, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Hapkido, Jujutsu, Malla-yuddha

III.Weaponry
a)Traditional Weaponry - Fencing, Gatka, Silambam, Kendo
b)Modern Weaponry - Eskrima, Jukendo, Jogo do Pau

Now let's say I'll focus on those that are practised frequently and moreso in Kenya. Talking of which Kenya has been represented in continetal championships in Tae-kwon-do and won a number of gold medals. Do we have anyone out there who could please give me some background on this? Trying to get some of this information is quite hard. Most federations have offices which serve as monuments more than functional places of work.

Golf- Sports tourism

Sometime back in some Sunday paper, there was this story about some interested investor who is willing to work in Kenya and make golfing a culture in Kenya as well as encourage sports tourism. This is to break from the past of just visiting parks and watching traditional dancers (no offence to all of you !)
It's a breakthrough idea that ought to be taken very seriously. I have been following this with interest I now understand why the big shot firms in Kenya fall over themselves to sponsor golf. The level of professionalism not just in the playing but also in the management is an envy of most sports. Hard to replicate ? I don't think so !

Take this, Kenya Golf Union found it in themselves to develop a golf course in Ngong Racecourse to help train amateur and lay people in golf. It is also an affordable option for those not able to pay for club membership.
Check out www.kgu.or.ke Quite a detailed and informative website for that !
Thus the idea of sports tourism ought to be given much thought not just in golf but even in other sporting disciplines. Imagine seeing Kobe Bryant at Nyayo Gym , Ronaldinho at MISC-Kasarani or even Tiger Woods playing a round of golf at Windsor Golf & Country Club.

World's Most Valuable - Football Teams & Players

Since I've decided not to comment on Kenyan soccer, here's a preview of the most valuable clubs in the world and a list showing the richest players too. In a survey done by Forbes, the top team is Manchester United. This is according to the 2005-2006 season.
Given the take-over by the Glazers and the dominance in the last season of the English premier League, I guess it's justified. They also enjoy some of the most loyal fans and have the best attendance in terms of gate collections. They also boast of the widest fan base. They have a division that does merchandising that accounts for between 3-6 % of revenue. It's worth $1.453 billion (approx KShs. 101.71 billion)with revenues of $ 310 million( approx Kshs.21.7 billion)
The second team in the list is Real Madrid having taken advantage of a star-studded squad in the last three seasons. But the results have not been very good ,meaning reduced gate collections and also the early exit from the Champions League has meant reduced TV ratings.
The third (suprise, suprise !) is Arsenal. This was after last year's appearance in the Champions League Final as well as the building of the new Emirates Stadium. This improved their gate collections making them only second to Old Trafford in terms of filling the stadium.
Complete List:
1.Manchester United
2.Real Madrid
3.AC Milan
4.Arsenal
5.Bayern Munich
6.Juventus
7.Chelsea
8.Internazionale Milan
9.Barcelona
10.Liverpool


As for the Richest player, Ronaldinho replaced David Beckham at the No. 1 slot. Given the pre-World Cup success that 'Gaucho' had with the win in the Champions League and the Spanish League, it was only a matter of time.
This might a temporary situation since David Beckham has signed a summer deal with Major League Soccer side L.A. Galaxy . This will surely enhance his image as a sporting icon. The third on the list though this is a suprise even to my person is Ronaldo( A C Milan).
Complete list:
1.Ronaldinho- $ 29.5 million
2.David Beckham- $29.1 million
3.Ronaldo-$22.1 million
4.Wayne Rooney-$20.4 million
5.Michael Ballack-$19.1 million
6.Thierry Henry-
7.Zinedine Zidane(retired)
8.Fabio Cannavaro
9.John Terry
10.Steven Gerrard
More details ,check www.forbes.com/lists/2006/34/340009.html
I'm sure these figures have changed not just for the clubs but even for the players earnings. The Champions League has been a real money-maker for the clubs and is truly lucrative for European clubs. It also shows the level of commercialisation that has taken sport which ought to be a future for the good of the sportsmen as well as the clubs.
Scratch,scratch....KFF can you hear me ?

Rugby Sevens update

The IRB Rugby Sevens moves into the second last round in Emirates London Sevens from the 26th-27th of May 2007, before closing up at Edinburgh.
Kenya has been pooled with New Zealand, Scotland and Italy. That's a tricky pool and the boys will need miracles to go through to the Main Cup. But wonders never cease !
We'll be watching ...

NBA Play-off updates

Only the third time since the series was revised, an eigth-seeded team has eliminated a first seed in the NBA Play-offs.
Well, Golden State Warriors beat Dallas Mavericks -the top seeds in the Western conference and favourites to win the play-offs this year. The team led by Baron Davis and former Indiana Pacer Stephen Jackson saw them off in the 6th game beating them 111-86. Couldn't have been a more comprehensive victory for the doubting Thomases !
The other game of the night, Utah Jazz pushed the Houston Rockets to the 7th game which means it could go either way. That's a tricky one to call !
More info check www.nba.com

Motorsport...WRC circles

Since our very own Safari Rally is yet to make it for the WRC circles, I feel it's fair to give a preview of other WRC events and standings so far. But I still feel WRC erred in throwing out the Safari Rally. It has never been clear and they always have flimsy reasons and postponements of readmitting the Rally.
From the start they said that a couple of things including, safety measures(e.g.fan management), longer term sponsors,day-time racing legs to be scheduled. They also argued that hosting the Rally in the African terrain had proved to be an expensive affair. In the last 3 years or so, I can say organisers have been sweating their bums to get most of these things in order. Introduction of Special spectator stages has been effected; KCB has come in big (kudos to them -but can somebody tell me where motorsport cross paths with Banks...that's just me !);most of the legs are now done during the day as opposed to late-night trips across the Savannah. Still WRC has said it's not to par especially with timing and officiating. My goodness...they should just let guys know the Rally ain't going back soon and that's that !


Back to the story ! Sebastien Loeb leads the standings after the Rally of Portugal. This was after Marcus Gronholm was given a five-minute penalty thus effectively making lose a podium finish. The details are as below;
Rally of Portugal result:
1. Sebastien Loeb (Fr) Citroen 3 hours 53 min 33.1
2. Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 3:56.47.0
3. Daniel Sordo (Sp) Citroen 3:58.38.4
4. Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Ford 3:59.10.2
5. Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 4:00.41.2
6. Daniel Carlsson (Swe) Citroen 4:01.46.3
7. Gianluigi Galli (It) Citroen 4:03.12.7
8. Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford 4:04.18.0
9. Manfred Stohl (Aut) Citroen 4:06.19.1
10. Andreas Mikkelsen (Nor) Ford 4:07.24.7

Driver Standings:
1. Loeb 38 pts
2. Gronholm 37 pts
3. Hirvonen 30 pts
4. Sordo 19 pts
5. P Solberg 16 pts

Manufacturer Standings:
1. BP-Ford 67
2. Citroen Total 59
3. Subaru 27
4. Stobart M-Sport Ford 21
5. OMV-Kronos Citroen 21
For more info log on to www.wrc.com
The next round is the Rally of Argentina which started yesterday followed by the Italian Rally from 18th-20th May.