[WRC] News & rumours (part III)

[pantealex]

No, it is more common that one stage is canceled than three of them. If a car block the road it blocks it for that stage not for the others. As for the challenge, I think that a so long stage will kill it because gaps will be huge at the end of it.
When do they do it? Day1 or 2? Hope not day1.

no, day3, sunday

[Simmi]

Plenty of people (myself included) have been calling for more endurance in WRC events. But I think we'd all say we'd prefer longer events rather than a gimmick stage within an existing event.


That said - it's not like Mexico (or any other event organiser apart from maybe the Monte) can go and add in significant extra mileage because the inflexible FIA rules don't allow it. They'd simply get thrown out of the championship. The teams (and drivers) would also throw a strop. Increased costs would be cited.

Secondly we constantly criticize events for being too similar and lacking any character or identity. So while you could say it's ill-advised, at least Mexico are trying to do something different within the restrictive framework they've been given.

Until the FIA and the teams open their minds to adopt a proper double points endurance event in the season then we're going to be stuck with stuff like this.

[dodge33cymru]

Does make you wonder, how much do costs actually increase if an event runs for an extra 100km, with no extra service stops added to the itinerary. Having flown the car, equipment and team halfway around the world, I can't imagine the additional mileage is a huge % increase.

It's a bit like the situation with WTCC, where they fly to Argentina or China for a 10 lap race.

[tommeke_B]

The costs would be too high indeed... So let's add China to the calendar! I'm sure most people on this forum would prefer to see less events on the calendar (like 11 or 12), and leaving the organizers more freedom to take make their events something to remember.

I don't think endurance events should be given more points. Who can tell it is/was more difficult to win the Safari Rally than to win in Finland?

[Mirek]

Just as easily you can have a whole afternoon of 3 stages canceled for exactly the same reasons, so please come up with better arguments.

UFO can land there too. Come on, it's way higher probability that THE one stage must be canceled than whole section in another rally. For spectators it's worse, for teams it's worse, for the sport itself and safety it's worse as well. Let's take some points.

- with such stage it's inevitable to see unprecedented number of overtaking on a gravel stage which is both dangerous and unfair
- one stage counts for 1/4 of the rally which makes all other stages something like a warm up for this one stage
- in case such stage has to be canceled a loss of 1/4 of the millage (recent history shows that such scenario is realistic and the risk of cancellation grows significantly with longer stage)
- such stage length doesn't fit in Rally2 rules - we will definitely see again a ridiculous situation when retired drivers set faster times than those who drive trough
- while for WRC teams 80 km is not so big problem it is definitely a problem for privateers, cars suffer a lot with growing distance, especially brakes in Mexican high-altitude conditions will be an issue; for that reason I expect most of the private entrants to just cruise through
- spectators will see less stages and particularly on this stage very little action aside of works drivers
- it's dangerous for spectators too because long stages always suffer from very uneven time gaps between competitors; towards the end of the of the competitive field it's very realistic to expect often gaps of ten or more minutes between two consecutive cars; people naturally tend to walk on stage when nothing happens anymore
- longer time gaps will have to be given on startline to at least partly prevent overtaking and dust issues; that brings us back to spectators for which such stage will be really boring; moreover I'm quite sure that only WRC drivers will be granted 5 minutes gaps or so and others will just suffer; that's anything but fair
- in case of cancellation notional times have to be given; they are usually very unfair in WRC events for everyone except WRC drivers; I can't imagine what the stewards will do here; if the cancellation really comes it may happen that holding a lottery in Paris prior the start would be as fair as finishing the event

[Simmi]

The costs would be too high indeed... So let's add China to the calendar! I'm sure most people on this forum would prefer to see less events on the calendar (like 11 or 12), and leaving the organizers more freedom to take make their events something to remember.

I don't think endurance events should be given more points. Who can tell it is/was more difficult to win the Safari Rally than to win in Finland?

Completely agree with the idea of fewer, better. Each round should feel special and bring something new to the table. In the short-term simply bringing back a full third leg and allowing for more stages on a Thursday would be a massive boost. I also agree with dodge33cymru's point.

The only reason I mentioned double points is that in this day and age I think you'd need that to convince the teams to do something like the Safari. Because while you couldn't say it's harder to win the Safari than Finland, it certainly costs a lot more to win the Safari. But there's rough endurance events like the Safari and then there's just simply adding more stage kms.

Sadly it doesn't seem that any of it is up for discussion.

[Jack4688`]

Plenty of people (myself included) have been calling for more endurance in WRC events. But I think we'd all say we'd prefer longer events rather than a gimmick stage within an existing event.


That said - it's not like Mexico (or any other event organiser apart from maybe the Monte) can go and add in significant extra mileage because the inflexible FIA rules don't allow it. They'd simply get thrown out of the championship. The teams (and drivers) would also throw a strop. Increased costs would be cited.

Secondly we constantly criticize events for being too similar and lacking any character or identity. So while you could say it's ill-advised, at least Mexico are trying to do something different within the restrictive framework they've been given.

Until the FIA and the teams open their minds to adopt a proper double points endurance event in the season then we're going to be stuck with stuff like this.

I would like to see the WRC condensed into somewhere between 8 to 10 events - all of them some kind of endurance type event. 5 day Rallye Monte Carlo, Safari Rally, 5 day Circuit of Ireland, Rally d'Italia covering the tarmac and gravel stages from old Sanremo rallies and the Rally Mille Miglia stages in Brescia, a Rally GB covering Wales, Yorkshire, Kielder and as much of Scotland as possible. Not just for the sake of nostalgia, but because of seeing an event really worth watching that covers some amazing scenery and properly formidable stages.

I live in hope...

[AndyRAC]

You do live in hope - as there's no way that will ever happen.

The purist in me would like to see it - as that was when the WRC was at its best; but time has moved on, sadly and those events are unlikely to happen.

I don't even think a halfway house will even happen; the fewer, better, individualistic events type of WRC with a mix of sprint 2 day events & endurance full 4 day events plus the current generic WRC event. Monte-Carlo would have to be an Endurance event, as would RallyGB - then that event might actually gain some mainstream coverage.

As it is, I think we're stuck with what we've got, which doesn't really inspire me - and neither do the efforts of RedBull, who I think have been lazy with their coverage.

[AL14]

I live in hope...

You do, but it's good you do it, for god sakes, let's not finish hoping at least here in a forum . In a realistic point of view they can at least try to take something from this scenerey. Maybe going there for more than 3 days is impossible but three days can be very different from each other on every round.
Surface can change, mileage can change (see Sardinia day2 for a realistic example), characteristics can change, endurance vs sprint/speed can change. They can do it if they want.
The point is that this must be planned from the beginning, starting with car specs rules that should afford all the differences between rounds. I don't think a Safari could be possible with actual cars for examle.

[Rally Power]

I don't even think a halfway house will even happen; the fewer, better, individualistic events type of WRC with a mix of sprint 2 day events & endurance full 4 day events plus the current generic WRC event. Monte-Carlo would have to be an Endurance event, as would RallyGB - then that event might actually gain some mainstream coverage.

Yep, a sort of Grand Slam (4 long rallys) in a mixed endurance/sprint 12 events calendar would be great and maybe it'll become the solution in a near future, as the calendar expansion is showing clear limitations.

Btw, the 80kms mexican ss can be challenging, but the risks of running it in a current format wrc event are huge and were proprely explained in the previous posts. FIA officials are a bunch of incompetents if they don't make Mex organizer reconsider.