Recently, WRC Manager Michele Mouton
has re-affirmed the FIA's commitment to the WRC, and both Mouton and
FIA President Jean Todt have expressed wishes that World Rallies go
back to their endurance routes, just as rallies did in the 70's and
80's.
Loeb himself has said he has been
finding recce's getting boring, and longer events would only make
serve to make this work. He explained how his travel itinerary has
changed, meaning he must fly out a day or two earlier.
"I have been doing this a long time. And I have to admit that
I find the recce and things like this a little bit boring now. What
is the thing that makes me maybe want to retire in the future is the
travel, which is very long. I don't want to say this will make me
decide now, but there is less motivation for the longer rallies.
"Now we are starting to do the recce on the Monday instead of
the Tuesday, which means I have to fly to the rally on the Sunday and
then I'm not back for a day longer." he added.
Loeb
himself has a plan of his own of how a rally week could work, saying
that: "I'm more of a fan of starting the recce on Wednesday
morning and finishing it on Thursday," he said. "Then rally
on Friday and Saturday - have the party on Saturday night and then go
home on Sunday."
This way would prove more cost effective
for teams, and could make for more competition for drivers as there
is less time to fight back from a mistake. However, even though Rally
Finland has run to this format for a couple of years now, it may not
catch on due to Mouton and Todt wanting longer rallies.
Loeb
did say, however, that he may be able to be swayed if it benefits the
WRC, but he is still sceptical about endurance rallies being the key
to a WRC revival.
The eight-times World Champion said: "If
you tell me that this is good for the media and that you are getting
something out of these longer rallies then OK, I understand. I am a
driver and will drive when and where I am told. But this is no more
of a challenge for me, it's just more stages which are really the
same."
As ever, however, there is another side to the
coin. Loeb's Citroen team-mate has gone against the flow (and the
vast majority of other drivers), saying he would be in favour of
them. He said he is aware of the increased costs, something he said
must be watched, but the former Ford and Subaru factory driver said
he likes the idea of driving night and day.
“I know the
arguments about these rallies being more expensive and everything and
we absolutely have to be careful of that, but at the same time I have
always enjoyed the challenge of driving longer rallies. I like the
idea of going through the night and really driving in the endurance
style; I would like to have competed more in the past, when there
were the really long Safari-style events.” he said.
Mads
Ostberg is another driver not happy with the way the FIA want the
sport to go. Ostberg is perennially looking for funding, and is sure
that without the endurance rallies that come with this season, he
could have been able to take part in a full championship.
“If
the FIA continues to push these long rallies then they are going to
hurt the sport. If it wasn’t for longer rallies like Mexico, then
I’m sure I would have managed to compete in the whole season. The
longer rallies are totally not the right idea.” said the Adapta
World Rally Team driver.
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