Rally news
More flyaway events pencil led in for 2019 schedule
Next year’s World Rally Championship is expected to include the most long-haul events in more than a decade as the promoter looks to deliver on FIA president Jean Todt’s demand that the series becomes more global.
Japan is the latest event to cement a deal with WRC Promoter – a move announced at a press conference in Japan last week – which would mean six rallies on what’s understood to be a proposed 14-round roster will be outside Europe. The last time the WRC included so many flyaway events was in 2008.
Since his arrival as president in 2009, Todt admitted he was disappointed at the lack of WRC action outside of Europe. The Frenchman has been a key driver in the Safari Rally’s return to the WRC circle, with Kenya expected to be back on the schedule for 2020. Such a move would mean almost a 50-50 split between European and worldwide action in the WRC. “The World Rally Championship is a world championship,” Todt said. “Our calendar needs to reflect that.”
Chile’s arrival in the WRC is confirmed, with the organisers of the Concepcion-based event already having made payments to the series’ stakeholders. Japan joining a calendar which already includes Mexico, Argentina and Australia means more flying time than in the last 12 years ( see graphic).
Talking during the Rally Japan press conference, WRC Promoter managing director Oliver Ciesla said: “[It’s] great news we can confirm the WRC Promoter came to an agreement with Rally Japan to host an event in Japan from the start of 2019. The proposal will now go to the FIA World Motor Sport Council where we assume we will get a positive approval to bring the rally back to Japan and then the event will take place from 2019 for probably four years. We are very much looking forward to being back in Japan.”
Japan ran a WRC round six times in seven years between 2004 and 2010 and a return is reckoned to be a high priority for the government and tourism departments preparing themselves for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The 2019 WRC calendar is a work in progress, but is expected to be shown in some form at October’s World Motor Sport Council meeting.
One insider told MN: “There are four or five different versions of the calendar right now, it could be possible that we just get the first half of 2019 dates confirmed in Paris on October 12. It’s not an easy job sorting the logistics out on this one.”
If, as expected, the FIA agrees to Japan’s return at WMSC in October, the deal will finally be sealed at a candidate event – the Shinshiro Rally on November 3/4. Based out of Nagoya, on Japan’s main island, MN understands the event uses asphalt roads in the Mount Fuji region to the east. The stages are reckoned to be as twisty as Corsica, but the road surface is more akin to Catalunya.
Having spent time in Japan in recent years, Toyota team principal Tommi Makinen confirmed to MN the passion for the WRC remains. He said: “When you come to Japan, you will see the number of interested people, it is incredible. The support for the sport has never changed. There was always a lot of people when we were on Hokkaido in Obihiro, but you had to fly there. In the last year, Sapporo was a bigger city with more population so we saw even more people there, but now we’re on the main island with a massive population. It will be a big event.”
While not all the stages utilised on the November event would make it to the WRC next season, one leg is reckoned to be completely transferable.
Speculation remains rife about which European round will be canned next season. MN understands both Corsica and Germany remain in the drop zone.