Move is good for WRC

Capito said his move to one of the most senior jobs in F1 is good news for rallying.

“It’s not because of me,” he said, “but if the top guy in an F1 team like Mclaren is chosen from a WRC team then it pushes WRC to a higher level. People would say: ‘A guy who runs a WRC team runs a Formula 1 team? No bloody way!’ But this is not just somebody picking a guy from WRC, it’s Ron Dennis!

“That should be a huge image factor for WRC. Obviously, it depends on the success… of course, if I fail then they can say: ‘We were right: WRC is sh*t – it’s easy!’” one or the other, it’s about a person being a motorsport fan or not.

“There was always this fight over the discussion about whether WRC should be on the same weekend as grand prix. People tried to avoid the clashes in the calendar, but for me this is completely wrong. When I was asked, I said: ‘Yes, of course they should be on the same weekend.’ If we have a live television stage from the WRC between 1200hrs and 1300hrs and then go straight into the Grand Prix with Motogp after that, isn’t this the perfect weekend?

“When you combine all of these different elements, people will stay home to watch everything in one day and all of the series will gain more exposure from this.”

Capito will continue to further the reach of the WRC once he’s moved to Mclaren and admits he hopes to take Mclaren Technology Group chairman and CEO Ron Dennis to this year’s Wales Rally GB.

Capito said: “I was talking to Ron Dennis when we were having lunch a while ago and he said to me: ‘What is this rallying?’

“I told him what it is and he said: ‘Wow, I had no idea it was so exciting and you can follow it like this.’ If we are not so busy during Rally GB, I will bring him to Wales for the event. That would be a big sign for the rallying community.”