FIA meeting 26/03/2008

[AndyRAC]

AndyRAC

I would want nothing more than to jump in the car with my quilt, Flask, Waterproofs and boots and descend in to the forests of the UK adding loads of mileage to a hire car and following an event for 5 days and pretty much not sleeping the whole time.

but in this world of political correctness and 'save the environment', those days have unfortunately gone. I don't like the new format events,(not enough time away from the misses), They are too small and are nothing like the tests that I remember in the 80's or even 90's. The limited competetive mileage is s#/t and the double running of stages even worse.

Unfortunately we live in a culture where the WRC has its limits placed by the FIA. They would never sanction such a thing anymore, They would not be able to justify bringing the country to a standstill, The popularity of the WRC has grown. I live near Penmachno and Clocaenog forests and however much I would love to see the cars in these forests again, I know that it would bring North Wales to a standstill.

The manufacturers and sponsors are after value for money.

I prefer the championship of old and would want nothing more than to see its return. I hope that Rally GB will introduce the remote service and we can go to Sweet Lamb again, I would also like to be somewhere other than South Wales for our round of the WRC, have rally Safari back on the calender, Have more mileage in the stages, but I don't think it will happen .

New teams will only come to the WRC if it will sell their cars......

I don't like it, but thats the way it is unfortunately.

Elvis

Yes, I know, I'm fully aware if the reasons, that you've rightly pointed out. However, I seem to recall recently both Morrie Chandler(WRC boss) and Quesnal (Citroen boss) both stating the need to spread out the routes a little. I know we can't go back to the glorious past, but a little imagination of routes would go a long way - instead of the same format and same stages used year in year out. The WRC, to be frank, is stale - yet I'll always follow it and support it - but I can't help feel it needs a shot in the arm. Each round needs to be different - even Sainz said it; an event used to 'paralyse' a country - now you'd hardly know it was taking place - sounds familiar?

[BDunnell]

Yes, I know, I'm fully aware if the reasons, that you've rightly pointed out. However, I seem to recall recently both Morrie Chandler(WRC boss) and Quesnal (Citroen boss) both stating the need to spread out the routes a little. I know we can't go back to the glorious past, but a little imagination of routes would go a long way - instead of the same format and same stages used year in year out. The WRC, to be frank, is stale - yet I'll always follow it and support it - but I can't help feel it needs a shot in the arm. Each round needs to be different - even Sainz said it; an event used to 'paralyse' a country - now you'd hardly know it was taking place - sounds familiar?

I don't quite understand how the compact routes we see nowadays are expected to do anything other than narrow the appeal of the events. Taking Rally GB as an example, being realistic, the only people who are going to come from much outside Wales to watch are enthusiasts who would probably be there anyway. Therefore, the rally's catchment area is restricted substantially by using so few stages. What does the FIA expect — for the locals to come out in their droves, day after day? They are missing an opportunity to show rallying to more people.

(Oh, and going back to the previous post, quite how 'political correctness' can be blamed for the current state of WRC events, I have no idea. Again, it's being used as a catch-all term.)