In recent years, incited by FISA’s gradual but far-reaching rule changes, rally teams have adopted the attitude of their Formula One counterparts; build it to last just for the duration required. Tyres, for instance, are meant to survive just one special stage, and drivers are as upset by an unworn tyre as they are with one which has been totally destroyed. Turbochargers, gearboxes, differentials, suspensions, brake systems and many other components all became considered consumables. If something broke, mechanics would be on hand to replace it instantly.
Service was no longer provided only where team logistics could supply it. It had to be laid on before and after every single competitive section. Anything short of that and the chances of success were greatly diminished, even wiped out. At one stroke, service platoons became service regiments and costs escalated through the roof. Competitors only had to get to the end of a special stage and the might of their factories’ facilities would descend upon them to reconstruct their cars into new machines.
Reliability, the very essence of rallying, became eroded and entire events were transformed into series of short sprints divided by roadside fettling sessions that would do justice to those of a modern, fully-equipped workshop. Building a car to last was no longer essential. The maxim was, ‘Make it fast. Fragility doesn’t matter. If it breaks, we’ll be there to fix it …”
New rules which came into effect in January this year have gone a few inches of the way to rectifying that situation. A turbocharger may now be changed only once in each leg of a rally and the spare must be marked and carried in the competing car. Furthermore, gearboxes and differentials may be changed only once per rally. However, such components removed from a car may then be refettled and later refitted to the same car during the same event.
This is going at least some of the way to restore sanity to a sport which has become so engulfed by business and commercial interests that its roots are being eaten away. Everyone knows what happens to a tree when subjected to that sort of treatment, so the sooner FISA turns back the clock, forgets its moneyspinning F1 simulation measures and returns to the days of basic, honest-to-goodness rallying, the better.
Other new rules also came into effect in January. Maximum tyre width, for instance, has been reduced from 10 inches to nine, whilst maximum exterior tyre diameter, when mounted on wheels, has been fixed at 650 mm (why not 25.6 inches we cannot imagine). Minimum Group A vehicle weight (including spare turbocharger carried in the car) has been increased from 1,100 to 1,200 kg, and, for ratification (English for the French ‘homologation’, lest you had overlooked it!) in that group, the minimum production figure has been reduced from 5,000 to 2,500.
There is no longer any freedom as far as fuel supplies are concerned. In Europe, leading teams are obliged to use that supplied by FISA (unleaded 98 octane) whilst elsewhere 100 octane AVGAS may be used.
On the administrative side, both drivers’ and makes’ championships are now based on the same 13 events, but in the makes’ series only crews nominated in advance (minimum 30 days) may score points. This, we feel, is a retrograde step. If a private driver is good enough to get into the top 10 of a World Championship event, then the manufacturer of the car, as well as its driver, should be entitled to points.