From wrc.com
FIA President, Jean Todt, has called for the spirit of adventure that characterised world rallies in the 1960s, 70s and 80s to return to the sport.
Jean Todt, who started his motorsport career as a co-driver in the 1970s before moving onto team management at Peugeot, believes that the sport should break free of standardised templates and feature fewer but longer events, including night stages that emphasise the endurance element of the World Rally Championship.
Jean Todt said: "When I was at the Paris Motor Show last week, I attended with pleasure the launch of the new MINI. This car was launched with a big light pod on its bonnet. And for me, this suggests that rallying should also be about driving through the night. It’s not a sport where you set off after breakfast, stop for lunch, and then go home at 5:30. It has a timetable of its own."
Jean Todt is known to be in favour of longer events than those that are currently held, although recently some rallies have been looking at shorter formats to contain costs, such as Rally Finland - which ran only on Friday and Saturday this year.
"I would never want to force people to see my point of view. Instead it’s a question of persuading people of the benefits," added Jean Todt.
Longer events would inevitably mean a contraction of the calendar from the current schedule, and Jean Todt thinks that 12 rallies would be the ideal number.
"It depends on the format of the events," added Jean Todt. "If you have rallies that are like gymkhanas you could have several. But if you want rallies that are worthy of the name, then I think about 12."
The FIA President insisted that he was not about to be rushed into any decisions about the future though. "The most important thing is to look at the situation carefully and decide well," he said.
FIA President, Jean Todt, has called for the spirit of adventure that characterised world rallies in the 1960s, 70s and 80s to return to the sport.
Jean Todt, who started his motorsport career as a co-driver in the 1970s before moving onto team management at Peugeot, believes that the sport should break free of standardised templates and feature fewer but longer events, including night stages that emphasise the endurance element of the World Rally Championship.
Jean Todt said: "When I was at the Paris Motor Show last week, I attended with pleasure the launch of the new MINI. This car was launched with a big light pod on its bonnet. And for me, this suggests that rallying should also be about driving through the night. It’s not a sport where you set off after breakfast, stop for lunch, and then go home at 5:30. It has a timetable of its own."
Jean Todt is known to be in favour of longer events than those that are currently held, although recently some rallies have been looking at shorter formats to contain costs, such as Rally Finland - which ran only on Friday and Saturday this year.
"I would never want to force people to see my point of view. Instead it’s a question of persuading people of the benefits," added Jean Todt.
Longer events would inevitably mean a contraction of the calendar from the current schedule, and Jean Todt thinks that 12 rallies would be the ideal number.
"It depends on the format of the events," added Jean Todt. "If you have rallies that are like gymkhanas you could have several. But if you want rallies that are worthy of the name, then I think about 12."
The FIA President insisted that he was not about to be rushed into any decisions about the future though. "The most important thing is to look at the situation carefully and decide well," he said.
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