WRC Promoter set for crucial running order meeting with the manufacturers

A resolution on the running order regulation will be a step closer next week when the WRC Promoter meets with the manufacturers to discuss a solution.

Championship leader Sebastien Ogier admitted last week’s Rally Poland was the worst yet for running first on the road – the Frenchman missed out on a podium result for the first time this year. He finished sixth after two days sweeping the hot, dry gravel clear.

WRC manager Jarmo Mahonen has talked in the past about potentially running the championship leader first on the road for three days – but appears to be stepping back from such a stance.

Experienced national competitor and Welshman Patrick Walsh talks MN through the Epynt Ranges.

“The roads are wider nowadays and the Tarmac is better than in years gone by. Locals get to know it pretty well and some of them don’t need much notes-wise.

“The guys in the BRC at the top end who’ve done proper recces should be OK. The secret is all in really good notes.

“There’s no real run-off, if you go off, you’re in a ditch or down a bank. It’s difficult to tell, with normal stages you have furniture like trees, houses for example. But with Epynt there’s nothing.

“The lack of furniture on the stages means there’s nothing to position yourself from. In some of our notes we’ve got road signs as a marker. In the past some of the road signs have gone missing, either because someone has hit them or someone is being mischievous, so that can make it interesting!

“A lot of it looks similar, which is also difficult as some crests are flat and some aren’t, even though they look similar. That can cause a few obvious problems.

“The other thing is, there are places where water gathers in streams if it’s wet and that can catch people out.

“The top boys will think ‘it’s just a piece of road’. The key is in the notes but it can be tricky in places.”