Wales Rally GB almost turned to farce because of the control tyre being totally unsuitable for the conditions. The same problem caused stages to be cancelled in Japan too. Is it unreasonable to have a second option available to avoid these embarrassments. It is clear that some other events were run with the tyres not suiting the conditions 100% either.

There is a cost involved and a logistic problem to overcome. Transporting the tyres to an event would be more expensive, up to three times so, because the unused optioned tyre would need to be returned to whereever.

In the past, multiple options of tyres were taken and so technically it would still be a cost saving on the past, just greater than 2008.

The decision as to which tyre to use would still lie with the WRC officials, rather than the drivers, ensuring a level playing field.