IMO the shootout, or could it be called the final duel, would ruin the spirit of rallying what rallying is about, the endurance performance. I would say that in rallying it’s impossible to do a perfect performance every single second without any mistakes compared to circuit racing where the conditions are known and it’s easier to drive the optimum lines on every lap. Why in HE*L should the fastest driver been punished if he / she makes a small mistake in this shootout and loose a comfortable margin.

What about if the difference between second and third is only 0,1 second before this last “shootout stage”? In this shootout format the third one would be at the best third and in the worst case fourth compared to second in the traditional (and the correct one) way.

In the interview by Colin Clark with Jost Capito, (http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/media/podc...114--80--.html) Jost Capito says that a “shootout” can’t be a separate event to a WRC rally but he’s still gives as an example the FAFE rallysprint with 100.000 spectators, which was not a part of Rally Portugal but related to the rally.

If rallying wants more fans imo the only way is to have more of these “Fafe rallysprints” with easy access before a rally and broadcasted on free view channels. This would give for the potential future fans the opportunity to plan the rally weekend for spectating the rally. Also advertising info how to get to the stages and the itinerary of the rally would help the occasional fans how to find “easy access” to the rally.

If WRC want some more media attention, this post by Antony Warmbold (an excellent one) would not for sure help WRC get any more media coverage (http://www.motorsportforums.com/show...l=1#post997229

Just my few cents and humble opinions.