As the world prepares for recession, many of rallying’s influential players are now calling for changes to the future rules of the World Rally Championship.
Hybrid rules for the WRC have been put together for 2022, with the cars still based on the current World Rally Cars, but with a ‘controlled’ hybrid kit that would likely be used on road sections.
Yet before the new breed of cars can even turn a wheel, former WRC team boss, George Donaldson, has called for the formula to be scrapped, in favour of a faster version of the current R5 cars.
“Why don’t we get rid of million-pound rally cars? Why don’t we get rid of the idea of half a million-pound rally cars?” Donaldson asked in a recent podcast.
“Let’s go back to our R5 cars. Okay, put slightly a bigger restrictor in it. All the manufacturers apart from Toyota have one, but, quite frankly, they made a World Rally Car in nine months [so] they can make an R5 car in seven months.”
He says an R5 car with nearly 400bhp would be just as spectacular as a current World Rally Car, and that removing some of the special aerodynamic packages would make the WRC cheaper, and a lot more straightforward.
“This is the time now to simplify everything, to get the cost right down, just tear up everything we’ve had so far and start again,” he added.
Sebastien Ogier, Ott Tanak, Thierry Neuville and the rest of the top-line WRC pack will be exciting in whatever they’re driving, whether that be a current WRC-spec car, or a possible R5+ variant.
In reality, the type of cars being driven is of little consequence to the fans. Sure, we want them to be exciting to watch, but with manufacturer budgets likely to be reduced, not increased, the WRC needs to do everything in its power to retain the current teams.
M-Sport, in particular, need to be carefully considered. Despite having only minor support from Ford, M-Sport is the WRC’s longest-servicing supporter, and losing them because of spiraling costs would be a knife in the heart of the championship.
The World Rally Championship has been riding a wave of success since the 2017-spec cars were introduced, and the proposed 2022 rules planned to build on that.
“What we need is fast, decisive action from the FIA to stop what’s happening for the 2022 car and take everything back to the basic,” another WRC source said.
“The R5 car is the way forward now. If we want to save the sport and the championship and make everything right for the future then we have to go in this direction.”
Through no fault of their own, COVID-19 has put an asterix beside not only the future of the WRC, but of most other sports around the world too.
If the championship is to remain a player in the world market, and remain relevant to both manufacturers and sponsors, then their next decision could be their most important yet.
How rallying emerges from the pandemic may well depend on it.
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