QUARANTINE RULES COULD DERAIL M-SPORT’S WRC CHALLENGE
Two weeks in lockdown could scupper Cumbrian Ford Fiesta team’s chances of making each event
Rally Estonia would be a non-starter for M-sport if the UK’S Covid-19 rate of infection rises again, Motorsport News has learned.
Estonia requires anyone who, prior to travelling there, has spent at least 14 days in a country where the Covid-19 rate of infection is more than 16 people per 100,000 inhabitants, to self-isolate for two weeks. As of July 6, the UK’S rate of infection number was 14.5 according to information from Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But if the number topped 16, then M-sport Ford World Rally Team boss
Richard Millener has already ruled out the possibility of his team selfisolating in Estonia for 14 days before the rally begins on September 4.
“We got asked the question and I gave the answer very succinctly with two letters, ‘n’ and ‘o’,” Millener told Motorsport News. “There is no way we have the budget to sit in Estonia for two weeks before we can start. It wouldn’t be pleasant either because you wouldn’t be able to do anything, you’d sit in a hotel room effectively in quarantine. Even if the event or the FIA covered those costs, it would be incredibly difficult to ask people to go out two weeks early, to go and do the event and then have to go straight to Turkey which is potentially what we’re going to have to do anyway, and then have to go straight to Ypres [if that’s on the calendar]. I can’t ask people to be away for seven weeks. It’s a non-starter.”
Significant calendar challenge
Even without the Estonia quarantine issue, Millener admits the compact end to the season presents his Cumbriabased team with a significant challenge.
“We signed up for a championship and we want to keep it going and do as much as we can,” he said. “But we’re definitely going to be quite different in approach compared to the other two teams. We’ve asked if the calendar becomes very tight, we have to look at that and make sure that we’re not caught out if something happens that we can’t do. We’re going to have to be flexible in some ways but we will also make every effort we can to be at an event.
“It depends what happens with Turkey and if they move that event or not.
If they try to squeeze in Ypres it does become pretty difficult to be honest.”
Waiting on Turkey
As Motorsport News closed for press discussions were continuing between Rally Turkey organisers, the FIA and WRC Promoter over a possible date change from September 24-27 to September 17-20 to facilitate Ypres’ inclusion on the calendar.
Millener told Motorsport News his team needs an answer by next week due to the additional logistics involved in getting to Rally Turkey.
“We could do Ypres. It would be a big strain and it would be a risk that we couldn’t attend with everything if we had any issues,” he said. “Estonia is going to be fast and Turkey is the hardest rally on the calendar. You would have no opportunity to go back to the UK after those events so you would have to do your re-prepping at the events. You’re going to have to do three rallies in a row with the same car. Other teams have the ability to swap cars, we don’t unfortunately. It’s a challenge for us that’s specific for M-sport.”