Photo: Martín Graña
WRC drivers want a more compact World Rally Championship race schedule as the WRC commission prepares to discuss changes to next year’s format. Over the past three months, the WRC organizer has put together a series of ideas to improve the championship, facing criticism from drivers concerned about the WRC’s appeal and perceived lack of direction. The proposals will be discussed by the WRC commission on Friday to decide which changes will be voted on by the FIA and which will be included in next year’s race.
As previously reported, it is believed that the shortening of the race distance, changes to the Sunday format, a possible restructuring of the points system, more remote services and the abandonment of the central service park will be discussed. At the top of the wish list for WRC drivers is a move towards reducing the length of the stage compared to the number of stage kilometers covered in rallies.
In some rallies, crews spend 12 hours on the road from departure to return to the service park for 140 kilometers long stages.
Photo: Honza Froněk
“The biggest problem for me is how long the days are in relation to how many stage kilometers we do,” he told the website autosport.com saka Toyota pilots Elfins Evans. This means that during the rally we hardly have time to do anything else. There are always complaints that we [braucējiem] there is no time, but here is also a clear answer why we do not have time. It feels like we’re going cross-country when in fact there are three stages that can be crammed into a more compact form. Sometimes it feels like we’re just driving for the sake of driving, and that’s something that needs to be addressed quickly.”
Eight-time WRC champion and Evans team-mate Sébastien Ogier echoed those sentiments, believing a more compact schedule would help fans follow the race better.
“We have discussed this many times between the riders, the organizers and everyone else. We just hope that at some point changes will be made and we will be heard,” says Sebastien Ogier. “We all say together that the route we are taking is not correct. Most of the time we spend more than 12 hours in the car every day, sometimes to cover 100 kilometers long stages, sometimes less. Germany [Centrāleiropas rallija] on opening day we’ll cover 300 kilometers to do just over 10 kilometers on the stage, which is ridiculous.”
“I think it’s important to make a real change in that to have a more compact rally with maybe a smaller time window. We can still put on a great show over 48 hours with 300 kilometers instead of long hours of overtaking. So that’s one of the areas where , I think we need to improve and put more intensity into the competition and let the spectators follow us a little more.”
2023-09-21 21:14:51
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