At the beginning of the year, the FIA introduced a significant change package to the World Rally Championship, which includes both sporting and technical changes.
The FIA’s goal is quite clear. It aims to reduce costs and thereby attract more manufacturers to the series, which would increase competition and make the series more interesting.
“In my opinion, they’re moving in the right direction. It might make it easier for new manufacturers to enter the premier class,” said Teemu Suninen, who is competing in the WRC2 class this season, to RallyJournal.com.
“Some really interesting changes have been proposed, but probably not all will be accepted by the teams. However, we’re heading in the right direction with the series. We’ll have more cars, a larger lineup of drivers, and thereby elevate rallying,” Suninen continued.
“We’re moving a bit towards the American model and creating a big show. That’s what the whole sport lives on,” he observed.
The biggest problem of the World Rally Championship has long been the excessive costs. A Rally1 car has cost up to about 1.5 million euros. Now, the future price cap is set to be 400,000 euros, cutting the cost by more than half. This has several advantages.
“Now, private teams also have the opportunity to buy cars and give them showcase opportunities. When you think about the last few years, there haven’t been many drivers, especially outside of the French federation, who have had the chance to try. Those opportunities have been quite limited,” Suninen reflected.
One of the reforms proposed by the FIA is the so-called WRC kit coming to the WRC2. This package will also allow increasing the power of Rally2 cars. Suninen sees potential risks in this reform.
“There are still big question marks, in my opinion,” Suninen stated bluntly.
“Will the Rally2 plus become a car competing in the premier class? Will it have the same power and weight? Will the aerodynamics be comparable? If that happens, then I think it’s a good thing,” Suninen said.
“But if it becomes another intermediate class, I fear it will end up like the 2017 cars, where the restrictor was made smaller and then we didn’t see a single car. The WRC2 class is there, and I think it’s an excellent second class, and it shouldn’t be changed. We shouldn’t go for intermediate solutions,” Suninen outlined.
