Although Latvala can go on at length reminiscing about the old Group B era and the WRC thrills of the 1990s, even the Finn admits that rallying – like the world itself – has changed.
M-Sport Ford team boss Richard Millener recently sparked a discussion about the unreasonable length of WRC rally days, following the grueling schedule at May’s Rally Portugal. Drivers, co-drivers, and teams were pushed to the limit with days stretching over 16 hours.
Read more: Major problem in WRC: “It makes no sense”
Some critics argue that rally days were even tougher back in the day, but Latvala offers a surprising counterpoint backed by a bit of data.
“We once compared it to the 1990s, and actually the days back then were shorter than they are now – there were just more of them. The days were shorter, which meant you could manage them differently,” Latvala told RallyJournal.com.
“That Friday in Portugal was pretty wild. It’s getting to the point where if a day is that long, then the next morning can’t start early anymore.”
In today’s WRC, top-level crews often have alarms going off at 5 a.m. and don’t get to sleep until after midnight. In addition to the rally itself, they still need to study the next day’s special stages on video. Skipping those video sessions would leave them at a disadvantage.
“Right now, drivers aren’t getting enough sleep or rest because they still have to watch videos. It’s pretty brutal when you get four hours of sleep at most, and then you’re straight into another insanely long day. There has to be a bit of common sense – if you want long days, the next one needs to start later,” Latvala emphasised.
“On that point, I agree with Millener – both the teams and the drivers need proper rest time.”
There’s also an argument to be made for shortening the days for the fans. While diehards used to wait in the bushes through the night for a glimpse of a car, most modern spectators aren’t willing to go to such lengths. And access to information has changed dramatically from 30 years ago.
“Back in the day, people were more willing to go on an adventure because there was no information available. There was no social media or anything like that. Now, info is so easy to get that people no longer need to put in the same effort,” Latvala reflected.
“That’s why we simply have to bring rallying closer to the public and the fans.”
