North One Sport, the promoter of the WRC, has reached an exclusive agreement with German broadcaster SPORT1 to show the championship in 2011 and 2012.

The deal will provide fans in Germany with extensive season-long coverage of the WRC including up to four hours of programming per rally – more than ever before – and live coverage of the new ’Power Stages’ on up to 13 rallies.

A series of newsflash and daily highlights programmes will be screened throughout each rally and each event will be supported by a preview and one-hour review show. Analysis of the action will come from SPORT1’s expert commentary team which includes former works team driver and WRC rally winner Armin Schwarz.

SPORT1’s WRC programming begins on 4 February, one week before Rally Sweden, the opening round of the season. The channel’s rally programming from Sweden includes live coverage of the first Power Stage on 13 February.

Simon Long, CEO of North One Sport said: ”With BMW’s MINI team making their WRC debut this year and ADAC Rallye Deutschland to look forward to in August there’s plenty for motorsport fans in Germany to get excited about. I’m delighted that thanks to this SPORT1 deal they’ll be able to keep up to speed with an unprecedented amount of television coverage.”

SPORT1’s editor-in-chief Alexander Rösner added: ”With the broadcasting of the FIA World Rally Championship, we add another premium right to our motorsports portfolio. The FIA WRC is the most spectacular rally series. From February until November, our viewers can look forward to thrilling racing action on the most challenging roads in the world.”