Prior to Antonov’s arrest, regardless if he is innocent or not, the sport already was in a fragile state with enduring criticism from the major manufacturers, fans and investors. With the turmoil in the wake of Antonov’s arrest none of the manufacturers were in a hurry to pay the entry fees for 2012 until the registration date came, amplifying the tension even more. Moreover, major players like Abu Dhabi closed their wallets and left WRC completely.
Actually, this is quite interesting. According to a FIA spokesman, quoted in the Emirati news paper The National, Abu Dhabi was dropped from the WRC calendar in 2011 because it would cause «geographical imbalance». I guess the inclusion of Jordan apparently added enough Middle Eastern flavours to a championship where more than half the calendar takes place in Europe. Also, the FIA’s standpoint stood in contrast to the words of Simon Long, commercial boss of WRC, who in 2011 said that «there is a desire to evolve the calendar to a more global one, as we are pretty Eurocentric as a championship right now».
Given the recent events it seems kind of weird that I was so positive about the new WRC during the first half of this year. Especially noteworthy in these discussions is the increasing dissatisfaction with the mismatch between possibilities and turnouts. Objectively, the global road show of the WRC is a treasure chest of commercial opportunities, of adventurous storytelling, automotive drama and spectacular scenery – and, mind you, some of the world’s most fascinating regions have yet to be visited by the WRC circus. So why doesn’t it work? Besides unintended organizational turmoil answers are plenty, and experts stack up in two lines to speak their opinion.
Many desire a standardization of everything from ECUs to rallies and tires. Make the WRC more similar to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (or the WRC changes that came in 1997). They have better media coverage, less «tribal politics» in the organization of points and events, and most importantly: it is actual competition between a number of drivers and manufacturers. Problem solved.
Others favour a copy-paste of Group B. Forget about past errors and unleash the spectacular engineering that historically is the reason to why WRC became a global spectacle in the first place. Add to this new events as well as the return of the classic ones – like the Safari Rally, as seen in the video above – and the result will be a fun and exiting sport with wild cars hustling through exotic venues. Again, problem solved.
