Does The WRC Need China?

[rallyace]

"France, Germany, Britain and Portugal all want to be on the calendar, but we think China has to come in and, clearly, there is not the budget to be running with 14 rounds, so something has to change." Oliver Ciesla, WRC Promoter

“It’s maybe nice to come on holiday (in this country), but it’s not for rallying.”

These were the almost prophetic words uttered by Carlos Sainz, then driving for Toyota, as he was asked to describe his thoughts towards the upcoming China Rally of the 1999 season. When asked directly whether or not the two-time world champion believed there was a place in the championship for China, he bluntly replied: “Not at all”, shaking his head.

When China was included in the 1999 WRC season it wasn’t exactly what you would call an untroubled affair. There was frequent talk of a drivers’ boycott of the event after it was announced that rescue helicopters would be unable to fly on many of the stages due to the poor weather conditions.

“It will cause everybody, not just the drivers, but the teams as well, concerns that maybe the response time to get to any accident is increased significantly,” were the words of likable Brit and future world champion Richard Burns. Tommi Mäkinen had a slightly more relaxed, albeit still somewhat concerned, approach to the matter: “I’m sure there are going to be some sorts of, uh, problems. It’s the same for everybody.” Quite a Finnish response, one might say.

The boycott would not hold water and the drivers embarked on the recce, which for some further strengthened the dislike of the event. The atrocious, marathon-like conditions combined with a hard, rocky base and soaked upper layers caused many drivers, Sainz included, to voice their discomfort. However, not everyone had hard feelings towards the event.

Colin McRae had won the rally twice before when it was a non-championship event. “The event has been run better than a lot of other events in the championship – they have done very well,” McRae stated after the recce.

Broadcaster Mark James was equally impressed with the nature of the stages and the incredible backdrop: “In the four-and-a-half years that I’ve been reporting on the World Rally Championship, I can’t remember a more stunning location.” With the rally route zig-zagging the Great Wall, it would be difficult to disagree with him.

The event would feature lots of drama as both Fords crashed out in the same corner of one of the early special stages, and a big fight developed amongst the frontrunners. In the end Didier Auriol would secure his first win of the season at the Chinese round.

Today these opinions are rarely remembered. Few “average” rally followers even recognize that the WRC has even visited China before. Regardless, there has been a tremendous debate as to whether China will (again) become a WRC event as early as next season.

WRC manager Michele Mouton said: "For China, we will know something soon. We have to know soon because the calendar is coming for September."

Most rally fans would be happy to welcome another event to the calendar. It would be difficult not to appreciate the extra publicity for the sport of rallying, and with no current Asian round, the WRC would arguably also become less of a (predominantly) European-based championship.

However, 14 rounds for 2016 is not going to happen, as Oliver Ciesla of WRC Promoter states: "France, Germany, Britain and Portugal all want to be on the calendar, but we think China has to come in and, clearly, there is not the budget to be running with 14 rounds, so something has to change."

Ouch. And unfortunately, the event that has been viewed by the media as the one likely to be replaced by China next year, is Wales Rally GB (according to David Evans of AUTOSPORT) – which is one of the only events to be part of the WRC in one shape or form since its inaugural season back in 1973.

One of the main reasons for this is due to the fact that Rally GB has not yet signed a contract with the country of Wales to further host the event in the future. Ciesla confirmed that if Rally GB were to renew its partnership with Wales it would help its cause.

"If there is a deal then we would be happy to have them as a candidate," he said.

Objectively speaking, Germany is not likely to leave the WRC for a number of reasons. First of all it is home to what is currently the most successful (albeit scandal-plagued) manufacturer of the WRC, but there’s also a scarcity of tarmac events these days. Germany’s unique challenge of “three different rallies in three days” will stay. With Corsica as the venue for the French round, it will stay as well, especially if this week’s rally delivers anything remotely close to what the rally was known for when it was still run in the championship.

So it’s down to Portugal and Wales for the last spot, and every time politics are involved, it’s incredibly difficult to make an accurate prediction. It might come down to “who likes whom” and who is ready to put the biggest bag of euros on (or perhaps under) the table.

Despite this, there are some reasons to get excited about China possibly returning to the WRC. Some of the most essential points are underlined here:

1. The WRC needs an(other) endurance event

The Safari is gone. And we miss it, don’t we? The closest the WRC comes to an endurance event today is Argentina, which actually in a lot of ways resembles the types of road you’ll find at the Chinese round.

In endurance tests it sometimes comes down to who’s got the luck and not necessarily who has driven the best rally, so for the ever-dominant Sebastién Ogier it would perhaps be more of a challenge to win than, say, Portugal.

2. Pressure from Citroën

It’s no secret that Citroën are on the verge of quitting either their WRC or WTCC campaign. It has been publicly announced that Citroën want the WRC in China as a large part of their sales are in the Asian market, and a Chinese round would likely help boost further sales as well as provide them with better marketing opportunities, especially in Asia.

3. Lack of non-European events

Yes, we all know it, non-European events are tricky. They are far away (which means a difficult time getting all the necessary equipment from A to B) and expensive to run as a result of this. But let’s face it, the WRC could be a lot more international and expand to include new territories.

But despite all of this, is it really possible to get excited about China when you think of what is potentially lost in the championship by its inclusion?

Originally I was thrilled upon learning that China would likely be a WRC round. However, the more I learnt about the background for this – 13 rounds instead of 14, Rally GB likely getting the short end of the stick – the more I dislike the idea as a whole.

Despite the seemingly many admirable positives to a Chinese event, I am of the mind that you simply can’t beat heritage. You cannot simply buy the high standards that the Welsh round has become synonymous with. You simply cannot change the marvelous perception inside of our rally-loving minds that an event as stunning and spectacular as Wales Rally GB deserves to stay. No amount of logical interpretation of a ‘new’ event’s potential or rhetoric can change that.

Didier Auriol wrote history as he became the inaugural winner of the WRC’s first visit to China.

History will be written again, but the question remains as to whether the next page in the history books will be someone winning the 2nd edition of the WRC’s encounter in China – or that a very likely, seemingly certain second visit to China miraculously dissipated.

[TheFlyingTuga]

Do you still have doubts that if in the end comes to that, Portugal Rally will be out? Money allways comes first, and to be sincere Portugal haven't had a lot this years. When in 2001 a event must be dropped so Germany could be in the calendar, who's the one rally to go out! Us of course. Ok, the conditions in 2001 were horrible but, weather it's nothing you can make good just because you want. I didn't matter that we were the safest rally in WRC the prior year, or the year before that. Nothing... just the money matters!
So, let China have a one-off WRC round, again, and then everybody will be shut about it, because I don't think that the drivers will enjoy it. Specially since most of them are always complaining about everything. In '99, they could not like it, but they did it. Nowadays... I can see them really boicoting the thing.

[tc10a]

China was a disaster in 1999 and I highly expect we wont see it in the calendar in 2016. Should be clear Wednesday evening.

[Simmi]

What is the origin of that piece in the opening post? It's quite old anyway seen as GB has got the deal in place to secure its short-to-medium term future.

I think the WRC does need China if the manufacturers want it. Ideally the calendar would be a mix of classic events and breaking into new territories. That is the reality of a healthy world championship - you can't just keep competing on tiny European islands.

I don't really understand the point about endurance tests and China. I don't see any endurance tests on the current calendar. I certainly think there's room for two or three to be built into the calendar in future years - expanding on existing rallies. But that's a separate discussion, and unless it's the Safari there's probably no point making a long-haul event an 'endurance' test.

It looks increasingly like the China discussion will be parked for 12 months. I hope they can work hard to get it on the calendar in 2017. No point rushing it and having another one and out. Do it properly and try to grow a decent event over a few years.

[Andre Oliveira]

If Citroën wants China, why not a "Ma Qing Hua" rally driver?

[Mintexmemory]

China was a disaster in 1999 and I highly expect we wont see it in the calendar in 2016. Should be clear Wednesday evening.

Hope you're right!

[AL14]

It's not that all WRC rounds will be replaced by 13 events in remote places, it's just one rally out of 13 in one of the most powerful and important country in the world.

There will be only good outcomes if China will host the round.

[Simmi]

If it's not China that comes in it will be Abu Dhabi so we might as well have something that actually benefits the manufacturers, the championship and its global reach.

[Mintexmemory]

Sooner or later one of these distant events, with no long history of motor sport, will have a big disaster because of the lack of experienced and trained marshals. Whatever happened to 'walk before you run'.

[Rally Power]

Why begin this thread with outdated news? It's almost certain that 2016 calendar won't have changes and if any new non european event came to WRC in 2017 probably none of the mentioned rallyes will be affected (contract renovation has 3 years length).