Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport The 2017 FIA World Rally Championship season is just 6 months away from kicking into action on the mountainside tracks of Monte-Carlo, and it is set to be one of the most exciting WRC seasons in years. With new technical regulations that are to make the cars not only faster but more visually exciting as well, a new challenge awaits the best drivers in the world, and with new cars, why not introduce or re-introduce some old rules? Below are some regulations I want to see in next season's WRC. Let me know if you agree with them and if there are any I have missed out. Revised Running OrderThis is currently under discussion so no matter what the outcome is, we are going to see a change next year in the road order format, which currently has the pack running in championship order for days 1 and 2 before the rally order is reversed for the final leg. This, as most would agree, is an unfair hindrance for Sebastien Ogier who is in my opinion being punished for his successes, with the rule coming in after he became World Rally Champion with VW. It may have contributed in seeing 6 different winners from 6 different events this year, but I for one want to see people fighting it out in an equal fight, not being severely handicapped. There is some speculation that the rule may be tweaked to see the championship leader run all three days at the front of the pack, which personally I feel would be an absolute travesty. The solution for me is to return to a format previously adopted in the championship, with day 1 being dictated by championship order, and the next 2 days seeing the rally run in rally order. This brings with it a whole bunch of tactics, with drivers slowing to try and get the best road order for the following day. But history proves this can create some epic battles as some choose to slow and others gamble and just go for it. And arguably nowadays, with no split times available in the car, drivers will not know how much to slow down by so will have to guess if they choose to drop time to fall down the road order and benefit from better grip. Three Car TeamsWith Volkswagen, Hyundai and Toyota all potentially looking to run at least three cars in the 2017 WRC season, why not just let the manufacturers run three cars in their main team, instead of seeing drivers at Hyundai for example switch teams and potentially hinder the manufacturers championship race, with Neuville's win in Sardinia giving points to Hyundai's second team for instance. The last team the WRC permitted three car manufacturer teams was in 2003, which did disadvantage those who didn't want to or didn't have the resources to run three cars as they have less cars and drivers to score them points. But only two of the teams entrants would score points so although there is less cover in that if one car fails to finish there isn't another to swoop in, teams entering two cars wouldn't be hindered by losing a whole chunk of points each rally just because they have less entrants. To me this idea just makes sense. With so many manufacturers looking to run more than two cars, it tidies everything up in effect and should hopefully make the manufacturers battle a little closer. Points for Fastest Stage TimesOut of the three I have listed here, this one unlike the others isn't backed up by any evidence or discussion, it is just a fantasy idea I have had that could potentially make the championship battle closer.
My idea is that for each stage in the rally, a point is in offer for the driver who scores the fastest time, which is in essence an extension on the current Power Stage format, which may be in jeopardy if this idea were to come into play. Under my devised system, there wouldn't be any points on offer for second of third fastest, it would just be one point for the winner so on a 20 stage event 20 additional championship points would be up for grabs. While this would in all likelihood increase the points gap between the winner of the event and the rest of the pack as to win you usually need to be winning a lot of stages, it could in theory motivate drivers to push to the limit throughout the rally for the points, creating more drama, excitement and hopefully closer battles. It would also provide the chance for a driver who has suffered a setback early on in the event to claw some points back with quickest stage times despite not necessarily finishing that highly. Well those are just some of my ideas, two of them feasible and realistic, one maybe not but I believe it could work! Let me know what you make of my ideas and keep an eye on the blog with a feature piece looking at the future of British rallying coming very soon!
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January 2018
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