The World (Rallying) According to Juha Kankkunen

[Hartusvuori]

There have been several how-it-should-be topics on the state of WRC. However, on the latest issue (May 2010) of Finnish VM magazine there was an interview with four-time world champion Juha Kankkunen about his role as an rally sport advisor to FIA president Jean Todt.

Kankkunen and Todt have had so far three meetings (Fourth was cancelled due to airspace standstill in April). First one was a week after Todt was elected. Kankkunen emphasis he's not on FIA payroll and that his role is purely that of an advisor. He however hints that certain changes to WRC have been planned/almost decided, but he must keep his mouth shut.

Here is Kankkunen to-do -list how to make WRC better:

- 10 WRC events should be enough. That would cut costs dramatically.
- Car should look like race cars. He also seems to be very keen on the appearance in general: he'd prefer that rally cars would be driven more with revs than torque. 8000-9000 rpms should make the crowds excited.
- 350 hp engines. 50 hp more on the engine and 50 kg less on the car weight would make the cars better to drive, he thinks.
- WRC need more private teams like Grifone, Kronos, Jolly Club, Bozian were in the past. Those would mean more seats for the new talents.
- Current regulations are built against young drivers. Kankkunen suggests that drivers would be allowed for four recce runs instead of the current two. WRC events in general could be two weeks long: if there are only 10 events, that'd mean 140 days in a season.
- Midday service should be 20 minutes with all repair parts allowed. There's no point with the current remote service rule: it could end the race if the crew isn't carrying the proper repair parts. It's not cost effective.
- More testing days allowed.
- Gravel crews must be allowed. This is a safety issue as well.
- No one-concept rallies like in the current situation. Not all rallies should be won going flat out.
- If WRC event proves to be not of the WRC quality, there's no point keeping it in the calender.
- WRC and IRC series must be combined. It won't be easy, he says, but it's important to get more makes in to the series.
- It'd be important to get an Italian make into the WRC, be it Lancia, Fiat or Alfa-Romeo.
- Kankkunen believes season 2011 won't see many changes, but in 2012 it could be possible to see 5-7 makes entering the series.

Many of these points have been said out aloud in forums, but I think if not all, most of them would be greeted with warm welcome. Hopefully Kankkunen & co could have their ideas put into reality, although I think in the end it's not he or any other advisor that decides.

There's a chance we will see Kankkunen in action in NORF 2010. It's not confirmed yet, though. That'd be his last WRC rally. Only exception would be if Safari makes WRC return, he'd participate, Kankkunen says.

Sorry for VM staff to rip off the story, but I think most of them on the forum that reads Finnish already have bought/subscribed for the issue.

[Francis44]

Very raccional and solid points.

Anyway looking foward to see him next week in Portugal.

[karo]

good points........maybe more advisors can give input.

Sainz, Vatanen etc.

He has a good point concerning young drivers. Allow them more reccee oppurtunities.

[koko0703]

I'm not sure about 2 week events but I agree with other points in general.

[AndyRAC]

Agree with a lot of what he says. 10 events, hmmm
I'm sure it'll give NorthOne a heart attack.....

[Josti]

Always a joy when former drivers speak their minds. I think it's great that Jean Todt listens to input from people who played a big roll in the sports history (well, he was one of them of course).

As far as his points, generally I agree. I like the fact that he's pro cost-cutting. Don't quite find myself in the 10 events, two weeks concept, but the rest are all (very) valid points. Oh yeah, would be great to see Juha driving NORF this year, I actually expected him to do that last year.

AndyRAC: ISC and NorthOne had too much control of WRC in the last 5-10 years, it's time to make a u-turn if you ask me.

[AndyRAC]

Always a joy when former drivers speak their minds. I think it's great that Jean Todt listens to input from people who played a big roll in the sports history (well, he was one of them of course).

As far as his points, generally I agree. I like the fact that he's pro cost-cutting. Don't quite find myself in the 10 events, two weeks concept, but the rest are all (very) valid points. Oh yeah, would be great to see Juha driving NORF this year, I actually expected him to do that last year.

AndyRAC: ISC and NorthOne had too much control of WRC in the last 5-10 years, it's time to make a u-turn if you ask me.

Josti: Absolutely, i totally agree - they tried to make it 'F1 on Gravel'. Well it didn't work. And I'm not convinced Jean Todt trusts ISC/NorthOne......

Agree about cost-cutting - that's why I can't get my head around the S1.6T regs. They're still too expensive!!

[N.O.T]

apart from the 2 week events which is not cost effective and also not possible due to 241 reasons....all the other points are valid.

[6789]

apart from the 2 week events which is not cost effective and also not possible due to 241 reasons....all the other points are valid.

2 week events does sound silly..

Being in Australia i would prefer more events so i can have an opportunity to actually see the cars

[sollitt]

I don't think Juha is talking about 2 week long rallies, rather 2 weeks being the time from leaving home base until returning.
When you take in travel, set up, testing, shakedown, recce etc... that's probably about the length of a 4 day rally.