I love our sport. Followed it avidly since 1984; competed for 23years. Still love it today. But it feels like it’s slowly dying. It has become less and less relevant outside our bubble of rally fanatics (teams included).

Rallying started out as a test of endurance and speed for road cars across arduous public real-world roads, open to anyone who wanted to take part. Endurance had value then and speed has always been an attraction.

Endurance is not relevant any more for ICE cars. ICE cars are being legislated out because they are harming the planet. Speed is becoming less socially acceptable, especially on the public road. So speed for speed's sake is a hard sell now.

Current rally 1 rules make great cars to watch but they contradict the essence of the sport.

Rally 1 tech is not relevant. It’s a bastardised parallel hybrid developed solely for rally 1 car application - it carries zero credibility in showrooms of dealers. A spaceframe chassis as a rally car? That’s not a rally car, that’s a buggy and that’s what raids are for.

Our sport is as under threat now as it was in 1986 when it was killing people. Except this time round the threat comes from being blind to the reality of the values of the modern world and the apathy for our sport in its current form.

What to do? it’s time for a dramatic 1987 style re-set.

Focus on a formula that uses current production EVs as the basis. Restore the link to what people actually drive. Promote the endurance and toughness of road based vehicles again.

EVs are seeing a public backlash - range, public charging, costs - and sales are dipping.

WRC is the MOST relevant automotive sporting completion for OEMs to promote their products in a positive light against these public concerns. OEMs can compete with their zero emissions technology demonstrate real-world, relevant performance and endurance.

A zero emissions WRC based on current production ZE cars will be different. It has to be or WRC will die. It will be a sensory step down for us fanatics in the bubble. We need to get over that or we'll lose the WRC.

There will always be incredible drivers happy to take an OEM buck to drive these cars on their door handles and that will always be a sight worth seeing.