Quote Originally Posted by AndyRAC View Post
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.
Unfortunately there are many things in life these day where we have to accept that times have changed. However the WRC is an example of over-homogenising to the point where there is little to get excited about or interested in. What point is there in the rule makers trying to control every minutiae to end up with something that they think is what the multi million $/Ł/€ motor manufacturers want when really all sports thrive on the interest of the fans - be it Joe Public or the hardcore?

The powers that be don't really understand that what they have is something pretty uninspiring right now. A lot of that can be down to the Ogier dominance effect (not much anyone can do about that, unless you relent and introduce gimmick rule changes in a desperate attempt to chop someone's legs off an the knee) but I think the key factor is the homogenised rallies and cars.

Up until last year or possibly the year before Rallye Monte Carlo refused to allow Rally2 to be part of their event, as was their right, and were the only ones that did so. Now it's dangerously close to being just another WRC event. Someone needs to wake up and realise that just one (preferably more) event doing something fundamentally different can create a lot of interest.

Similarity breeds boredom