TODT:STILLROOM FORLONGERRALLIES

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FIA president Jean Todt has brought clarity to the World Rally Championship’s endurance debate, confirming there’s still a place for longer tests and night stages.

Toyota team principal Tommi Makinen has long lobbied against any kind of an endurance element in the sport, feeling that format doesn’t suit the current World Rally Cars. Former FIA rally director Jarmo Mahonen also reasoned the series’ pursuit of an improved social media profile would be best served by running an increased number of shorter stages.

Todt admitted the issue was a thorny one. He said: “It’s not an easy question. For me, rallying is not a sprint, rallying should be endurance, adventure. Personally, I would love to have some night stages, I would love to see people going in the middle of the night to watch the rallies and I would like to see more service parks, but I understand this is more the history than the future of rallying.

“But I must say, it’s great when you see the first stage [30 miles long] in Corsica when we have more unpredictability – they don’t get any information during the special stage and the driver can make a difference.”

Event organisers talk of mixed messages in recent years from the FIA. One of the WRC’S most arduous events, Rally Mexico, has reduced the length of its longest stage for the last two years, from 50 miles in 2016 to 35 miles last year and finally 19 miles this year.

Asked if the event organisers were being put under pressure to run shorter stages, Todt said: “Pressure from the FIA? Not from me at least.”

He also called for motorsport in general to feature more unreliability as a way to make racing and rallying more exciting.

“You know one of my problems with actual racing?” Todt asked. “The cars are too reliable. I mean, look at Formula 1, things are so efficient, it’s so much work at the simulation facility and the cars are so reliable. This is something I feel is not so good for the sport, we like things more unpredictable. Racing needs to have some unpredictable flavour. Maybe we could give less allowance during the season for engines, transmissions and the gearbox, this would make things cheaper.

“It’s Yves’ [Matton, FIA rally director] responsibility to discuss that with the teams and come back with some proposal.”