WRC Likely on the Brink of Collapse and How It Could Be Solved

"Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V)" (gaborvajda) 05/05/2014 at 03:54 • Filed to: WRC, WRX, GRC, world rally championship, world rallycross championship, global rallycross championship, ken block, rally, rallying, rallycross, rally sprint, short rally

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Sports you cannot put on TV screens are virtually non-existent. Airing rallying on live TV certainly have some serious issues. Question is, whether anyone cares to do it anymore and for what price.

During the past year there have been discussions about reforming the World Rally Championship for a better live TV-experience, looming the apparently worst possible solution as the future of WRC from 2015. No question about it: WRC does need a radical change if the FIA or the promoters want to keep the 'W" in the abbreviation, but not by destroying the integrity of the sport.

For the record, the proposed change in format includes three days of intense, "regular" rallying and a shootout power stage. Problem is, those stages preceding the final showdown would serve merely as qualifying for the final battle, counting only the stage times achieved there for the final result. The idea is not unlike the concept of "green-white-checkered" finishes in NASCAR, where - upon initiating a yellow-flag situation in the final laps of the race - a new restart is due, rather than finishing under caution. 500 miles of racing, and the end result comes down to a two-lap sprint. In both cases, those who survived the long and exhausting "prelude", can now duke it out at a breakneck stage-run.

The idea is plainly wrong. The same way you do not decide the end-result of a Marathon run by putting the competitors in a 41,900-metre endurance race and then having the ten best ones deciding the final standings at a 100-metre sprint.

A clear slap on the face of rallying in general and I am almost certain it would irreversibly damage the remaining reputation of the sport. If there is somebody working on deliberately destroying its reputation as we know it to put World Rallycross Championship in its place, that person is doing an exquisitely fine job.

Speaking of which, WRX is apparently the next big thing for young TV-audiences: short and actual racing in spectacular fashion. Mixed surface, jumps, four-wheel drifts, bodywork on bodywork - you name it. Rediscovered by the attraction supported by Ken Block & Co., mimicking Global Rallycross Championship on the other side of the Atlantic.

Can rallying stand a chance against rallycross in global interest?

The answer is a simple no .

Does the FIA or the promoters want to keep WRC alive? That's a question to be debated. Does WRC need a change to remain visible and relevant to a wider audience? Absolutely.

So what could be done to make WRC make it to live TV conveniently (the key to fail or success) and still retain the essence of the sport?

Not a one stage battle for sure. Instead, a World Rally Sprint Championship would make much more sense. It's still rallying, it can be still put on TV, although it's not necessarily endurance competition.

One must note, that rallying went from crossing continents through regularity events all over the countryside to flat out time attack on a handful of stages, therefore there is a definite writing on the wall in this respect.

Have one stage run in both directions each day (preferably longer ones, at least of 20km+ length), make them three different ones through three days, under different conditions (e.g. day and night). All cars could then be easily tracked on TV, not spread through multiple stages at a time. Standings would be clear to follow and you would still have the high-speed jumps, the scenery of the countryside, the rush from A to B and the input of co-drivers.

A whole day of Col de Turini, Fafe, El Condor, Ouninpohja and the likes would definitely light up the day of many fans and general audiences alike.

Fearful, that it is not something the reformers have in mind and we are witnessing World Rally Championship being slowly replaced by World Rallycross Championship.

Which would you prefer: shortened rallying or rallycross?

All images are of Creative Commons licence

Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge) > Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) 05/05/2014 at 05:29

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Neither. I think this is dangerous talk Gabor! Here's my thoughts...

There's nothing wrong with the format of rallying, it's just how it is portrayed on the television in the first place. What's wrong with what have we got currently? Well, we have short highlight shows (speaking from the UK) where an uninterested generic motorsports person commentates over brief stage highlights. This shows none of the passion and intensity that rallying is famous for, and doesn't get anybody excited.

What else? We have 1-2 minute videos on YouTube covering several stage highlights. Why?! How has somebody not noticed that that is a bad idea?! The WRC needs to take note of other YouTube channels and provide more lengthy, detailed, and insightful content. As of now, it's lazy and dull. Where are the behind the scenes interviews and films for a start?!

To change the entire sport of rallying for the benefit of coverage is a bloody bad idea. To change the people making the coverage is a far, far better one.

Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) > Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge) 05/05/2014 at 05:47

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I would normally agree with you, nevertheless I believe rallying is just not appealing to younger audiences - whatever you do with the coverage - due to the length of a weekend. Choosing one or two stages for live coverage just doesn't cut it, because it doesn't tell the whole story. It's like chipping in to lap 34-39 and 89-93 of the Le Mans 24 hours. Covering a whole rally is really-really confusing to watch on TV. I love rallying but I have a hard time to catch up with the action, because cars run on three stages simultaneously, you have a vague idea of what's happening. It's just not TV-compatible, that's how much you can take out of it.

That's why I said: rallying has went through enormous changes through the decades. No one's complaining why the Monte Carlo Rally doesn't have multiple starts across the continent, spanning weeks, or why it isn't stock production cars they rally with.

Rallying went from TSD cross-continent "road trips" to Special Stage attacks, shortening it even further would not do too much harm to it. If you had e.g. 20km stages run in both directions through three days, you'd still have 120km of rallying (about the same length BRC events are) with much better coverage. I think this is way better way of presenting rallying than do it the "old" way, but leaving it as qualifying for a sprint time attack on one stage.

theloudmouth > Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) 05/05/2014 at 06:16

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One word has summed up the times WRC has been relevant, homologation (Group B does not count, because it was a microcosm in time and never coming back).

Bring back the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" vehicles like the WRX, Evo, Celica GT-Four, etc., and people will tune in for their allegiances again.

Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) > theloudmouth 05/05/2014 at 06:25

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Group A and the early years of World Rally Cars certainly had an appeal, but IMHO the success was mostly due to there being only two World Championships at the time: F1 and WRC, hence better exposure to rallying.

Manufacturers who didn't make it to F1 went to WRC and slowly forced regulation changes (no one wanted to build 4WD road cars in thousands of volumes just to participate in WRC), leading to World Rally Cars, thus opening the doors to even more manufacturers to join.

jonnysage > Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) 05/05/2014 at 07:54

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Well, first off we cant even get WRC in the US (or WRX), it doesnt matter if they make it better looking. However, since people upload it to youtube, I can say I like what we have now, the 30 min highlights. I would like to see more coverage of something other than the top 3 drivers though. What about wrc2 or wrc3?

King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider > Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) 05/05/2014 at 11:43

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From my perspective, WRC should work in tandem with WRX and cross promote and focus on the next generation of fans. The best way to do this is to better embrace technology and stop relying on traditional TV contracts. By working the us of live streaming coverage for free over their websites, they will be able to grow the product internationally. Social media, free content, etc. is the way to capture the next generation.

Dusty Ventures > King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider 05/05/2014 at 12:17

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As much as I'd love that, there's no way they could do it for free. Between cameras, helicopters, relays, etc, it costs over $20,000 per hour to produce live coverage. Talk about doing that for a whole rally and you're up to as much as $500,000 per event. I think the internet is the way to go, but it will have to be a subscription service, in much the same way V8 Supercars is, at least to start. If subscription numbers are good enough the WRC could then talk to companies about buying banner space on the video player page, and possibly even commercial breaks, hulu style. Get enough advertisers on board and WRC could reduce subscription cost at the least, and switch over to finally providing the coverage for free at the most

Dusty Ventures > theloudmouth 05/05/2014 at 12:21

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The only thing that level of homologation (there actually is some homologation required right now) would achieve is getting manufacturers to pull out of the WRC

tromoly > Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) 05/05/2014 at 12:30

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You know Rallycross was started in Britain back in the late-60's and has been run in Europe long before GRC even was thought of right?

King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider > Dusty Ventures 05/05/2014 at 12:48

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Whoa whoa whoa...you mean it isn't just 5 guys with go-pros and mini drones???

;-)

Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) > tromoly 05/05/2014 at 13:54

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Note the word "rediscovered" in the post.

EDIT: I reread it. realized it might not come across as such. To answer your question: yes, I'm quite aware of the fact.

theloudmouth > Dusty Ventures 05/05/2014 at 19:43

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If you honestly are telling me that any WRX/STI fan/owner, EVO owner, etc. would not be far more interested I don't know what to tell you.

Dusty Ventures > theloudmouth 05/05/2014 at 20:36

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That's not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is the WRX/STI/EVO owner fanbase isn't sizable enough to justify manufacturers building cars to the homologation standards of the pre-World Rally Car days. Especially when they would have to meet much more stringent emissions/fuel economy/safety regulations at the same time. The manufacturers know they can't sell enough of those cars to justify the cost, so if the WRC brought back those rules the manufacturers would all leave the WRC. And then it would be truly dead.

Dar > Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) 09/30/2014 at 14:46

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The biggest problem is that live coverage isn't going to work worldwide. As much as I LOVE the WRC and rallying in general, I am not going to get up to watch live rally. Two kids under 5 doesn't allow me much time to devote to rallying though I'm fairly sure the WRC doesn't give a shit about me as a consumer (I live in the U.S., none of us matter).

I actually prefer the format that they're currently rolling out though I may be in the minority. My friends and I get together to watch the rallies on the Monday or Tuesday after the rally (as soon as I can find torrents to DL). That's not to say the coverage couldn't be better. I'd really like them to go back to one hour daily coverage rather than the half hour they're currently putting out. That would give them more time to get into the drivers and the technical aspects of the cars, which I think is sorely lacking.

The other thing that I would like to see return (but I doubt ever will) is night stages and the Safari Rally (or other longer distance endurance type rallies). There was always something magical about the lifted rally cars with snorkels, brush guards, and mirror lights :)

The last thing that I want to watch is Rallycross (Global, Red Bull, or otherwise). It is just not that exciting. Kind of like a glorified SCCA/NASA Rallycross that any Joe Schmoe could compete in on a Sunday at the fairgrounds. It's beneficial in that it may expose more people to stage rallying but Americans are ultimately lazy and don't seem to possess the desire to go out into the woods and watch motorsports (which is part of the appeal of stage rallying).

I do not want to watch the same stage over and over again (that's what we get at local regional rallies). Nor do I want to have some ridiculous end-of-rally sprint as noted in the article. Rally is all about cumulative timing over a long weekend worth of rallying, not some shootout at the end (love the analogy to a marathon).

Stage rallying is what I really care about (spectated at the Acropolis Rally in 2000, Rally Deutschland in 2006, and Finland in 2009) and I hope the FIA pulls their heads out of their collective asses and gets this figured out.