2024 - New Point Scoring System

[Sulland]

This issue deserve it own thread!

Can anyone explain the thinking behind the system, and why it ended up as is?
If you already now have proposals for adjustments, if you agree with the purpose, but not the current version?

Or shall FIA just bury it already now, and go back to how it was?

[flat_right]

I think this has been suggested here before that I really like Power Sunday idea. It would be like the year before but instead of pushing just on the last stage, we would have multiple stages, where the drivers who want, can drive for points.

So the overall would be 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 and for Power Sunday, it would be 7-5-3-2-1 (or make it 6 instead of 7, if we don't want that 2nd can get the same amount as the winner). So the maximum that the second place can get is 18+7=25.

[meh]

I think this extra stimulation for Sunday is good, but just points for Sunday are out-of-scale and too valuable. So pretty much +1 for what flat_right wrote.

[seb_sh]

So apparently they saw Sunday cruising as an issue so they came up with this system.

flat_right's suggestion would be pretty good and here's couple of others i have seen that I liked:

A. Keep the Power Stage as is but make the Sunday stages before it count as qualifying for choosing PS start order. The fastest driver on sunday stages chooses his road position first and so on, make it a show for rally tv. It offers some incentive to drive faster on Sunday and creates some build up before the PS but doesn't fundamentally change the rally. Of course not all drivers would push but if you want PS points you can't go slow.

B. If you want to go full show then the rally ends Saturday, there is a podium, winner gets 25 points in the bank. Then Super Sunday is like a sprint of about 50 km with times and standings starting from 0 and no connection to the main rally with 6-5-4-3-2-1 points.

[AndyRAC]

Cruising is a part of motorsport, most series will have it at the end of races where there are big time gaps......That's just how it is...accept it. No other series has decided to change their points system to stop it.......(though most other series have decent entries).

It's another sign that those running the WRC really don't know what they're doing.......

[Morte66]

I think it was intended to stop Sunday mornings where everybody was cruising to the power stage. I think that was a real problem, and it has succeeded at fixing that.

But... beware of unintended consequences. I think it is now over-valuing Sunday. And, whilst I'm not bothered, it appears distressing to most fans that the overall winner doesn't get the most points.

As to a solution...

First, I think that anybody who says "it's simple, just..." is a prize idiot. It's not simple.

Otherwise, a couple of thoughts:

- The FIA seem very proud of the fact that the new system awards 30 points for winning everything, like the old. I don't think this is important. Maybe it's nice for comparing points from year to year, but I wouldn't sacrifice anything for it.

- Anything that gives points per stage invites collusion. I'll push in in SS17 and you push in SS18. The current power stage is OK in that sense because it only happens once, there's nothing to trade for.

- I sympathise with "we don't need a power stage anymore, it's redundant with Super Sunday". But it's become a sponsorship thing, it's "The Wolf Power Stage" not "the power stage". It ain't going away, the most we'll see is scaling back to 3-2-1.

[Backa]

25 points for rally winner, if he gets 15+6+3 from system below, give him extra point, if he gets 15+1+0, extra 9 points.

15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 at the end od saturday, as long as drivers finish whole rally.

6-5-4-3-2-1 for accumulated sunday.

3-2-1 for power stage.

It will keep most of cruising reduction benefits while giving biggest point reward for win.

[Lenno]

Long time reader, first time poster of this forum.

I agree with the rationale of changing the points system but not wholly convinced by what has come up with. My two cents worth is as follows:

1) Overall classification (end of Sunday). Points to the top 10 finishers on the following scale - 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1

2) Power Stage points as current 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

3) Best Stage performance points bonus - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Essentially the top 5 stage performers get the bonus points. To apply this to Sweden it would be 5 (Rovanpera for 5 stage wins), 4 (Lappi for 4 stage wins), 3 (Neuville for 3 stage wins), 2 (Evans for 2 stage wins) and 1 (Katsuta for 1 stage win - same as Tanak/Linnamae/Fourmaux so then it would be most 2nd places as a tiebreak, or most 3rd places etc to break the tie).

I think this would make it much more difficult for the overall rally winner to not get the most overall points at the end as they are likely to have several stage wins in order to win the rally so would typically end up with at least 22/23 points before any power stage points are added. Also, it would incentivise pushing throughout as every stage counts towards points.

For Sweden the points under this system would be: Lappi 24 (20+0+4), Evans 21 (15+4+2), Fourmaux 12 (12+0+0), Neuville 16 (10+3+3), Rovanpera 10 (0+5+5), Tanak 2 (0+2+0), Katsuta 2 (0+1+1). This feels generally fairer and Lappi ends up scoring the most points!

[Jarek Z]

Cruising is a part of motorsport, most series will have it at the end of races where there are big time gaps......That's just how it is...accept it. No other series has decided to change their points system to stop it.......(though most other series have decent entries).

It's another sign that those running the WRC really don't know what they're doing.......

Exactly! And what's more - cruising is a part of most other sports, not just motorsport. If a football team leads the match 5-0 after 70 minutes, do you think they play as intensively as at the beginning of the game? Usually they just control the game, manage the good result and enter some young players. Or if a 5000m runner leads by 30 seconds on the last lap, do you think he is giving his all throughout the whole distance? The same with basketball, swimming, marathon, etc. It has always been like that. Why is it suddenly a problem?

[CeskyOndra]

I think this has been suggested here before that I really like Power Sunday idea. It would be like the year before but instead of pushing just on the last stage, we would have multiple stages, where the drivers who want, can drive for points.

So the overall would be 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 and for Power Sunday, it would be 7-5-3-2-1 (or make it 6 instead of 7, if we don't want that 2nd can get the same amount as the winner). So the maximum that the second place can get is 18+7=25.

If we want some change, then this is it.. No complicated, so simple.. Absolutely agree man.