Above: Rally Sweden, from one of my favourite WRC seasons.
Next weekend it is the launch of the WRC 2011 season. Sadly, it is not in Monte Carlo, although celebrating its centenary year 2011 (19-22 January), with a tremendous history of drama and glory to show for. The rally did take place a month ago, but then as part of the Intercontinental Rally Championship (IRC). Not a bad word on the IRC, but the loss of this prestigious event – once described by Ari Vatanen, WRC driver 1977-1998 and world champion in 1981 in his book Every Second Counts as “the king of rallies” – is a serious blow to the WRC’s rank as the world’s toughest motorsport.
Launched in 1911 and run 78 times since then (in addition to being the inaugural event of the WRC in 1973), taking place along the French Riviera and in the Alps above Monaco in the Principality of Monaco and southeast France, it has become a mix of thrills, glamour and spectacular scenery. As rally historian Graham Robson puts it in his book Monte Carlo Rally. The Golden Age 1911-1980: “It may no longer be the most important in the world’s rally calendar, but the Monte Carlo Rally is certainly the most famous”.
Still, the reason for this departure from the WRC is very simple: The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which governs the WRC, has a different opinion on how to organise rallies than Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM). Although ACM officials say they would like to return to the WRC, FIA’s event itinerary of the WRC, introduced in 2000 to make the championship more predictable, less costly and commercially more effective, is seemingly not commensurable with ACM’s philosophy of rallying.
Rene Isoart, a long time ACM organiser and General Commissioner, said in 2008, when Monte Carlo first was dumped from the WRC calendar due to rotation regulations by FIA, that this opened up for a return to the historical kernel of the rally: “Next year, we do not have to worry about the constraints of the WRC. We can recreate the atmosphere of night stages, take three service parks, run the rally in the week…everything is possible.” Furthermore, he concluded that “the pleasure is not the same in the WRC, the atmosphere is less special, the magic is lost and there are fewer of our old friends here. This rally has existed for a long time – before the WRC was created.”
Well. WRC 2011 is nonetheless still on, and the opening venue is Rally Sweden, a rally famous for its snowy conditions, freezing temperatures and cheerful spectators. Its history started already in 1950, and has proven to be a hard challenge for non-scandinavian drivers. This year, new regulations and new cars incite a lot of expectations. Will it be the reminiscent of the days where it could be “anyone's rally” even when entering the final stages? Or will Loeb dominate like the He-Man of rallying he has been for the last seven years? And can the new MINI challenge the big boys? Time will show.
