The WRC event director, Simon Larkin, says that it is need for WRC to change the format during rally weekends which will be focused on the car service.
A number of rallies does not include a midday service and a practical example is what happened at Acropolis Rally last Friday where Ott Tanak took a three-minute and a 40-second time penalty, as two mechanics were working on his Puma's water pump, and left from the tyre fitting zones after 22 minutes. It is obvious that if a driver carries a serious problem, he must retire for the day as there are not midday services and the midday tyre fitting zones last 15 minutes which means that it is impossible for the two mechanics and the crew to fix properly the car for the afternoon loop. In addition to these, every crew carries tools and spare parts to its car, but this is not a solution as they are doing temporary repairs with the intention of completing their day and returning their damaged cars back to the service area.
The next World Motor Council will be held on October 19, therefore any proposals on WRC event format must be presented by the end of September.
"We absolutely are open to changing the single service-park concept", Larkin said.
"Maybe we need to have a model where a certain number of parts and tools can be carried in a certain way or in the car.
"If two mechanics are already there for a 15-minute tire fitting zone… how long does it take to fit the tires, four or five minutes?
"They can do more in that time and this can help keep cars in the event.
"Look at Elfyn on Saturday’s Eleftherochori stage.
"He ran through the stage on hybrid to get to the end and then busted his balls to keep the car in the event.
"Maybe there’s a chance to keep cars running and add to the story.
"The other thing about remote service or potential remote service is that we believe the sport is too focused on the team being the driver and the co-driver and there’s not enough focus on the mechanics and the engineers working to keep the cars in the event.
"They have a lot of pride to keep their cars running and we are making more heroes than just the drivers and co drivers.
"I think we can create a different flavor of events to suit the market and the type of story we’re trying to tell.
"If we think of every season being a book, we want those 14 chapters to be exceptionally different – we’re not circuit racing, we’re out in the environment of the countries we’re in and I think we can cut our cloth to suit those individual countries and to create something special".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: Toyota
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