Next season, the World Rally Championship will introduce latest formats for chosen rounds to make the event calendar more diverse.
The championship has long been considering the opportunity of changing the length of the races, with the Rally Italia Sardinia earlier this 12 months testing the concept of a shortened 48-hour rally.
This follows a series of proposals recommend in February by a newly formed FIA working group tasked with determining the long run of rallying.
This list of proposals included pressure on event organisers to have more flexibility in setting routes for WRC rounds moderately than being prescribed to a set format. It is predicted, nonetheless, that each one rallies will proceed to complete on Sundays.
We hope that various the length of events will add extra character to the raids and thus provide additional storytelling opportunities.
The WRC announced an expanded 14-round calendar for 2025 in July and, in accordance with the WRC promoter, chosen events might be contested in alternative formats next 12 months.
“There are a couple of events next year that will have a slightly different format. I know one event will probably be a bit longer and I know one will have a tighter format,” said event director Simon Larkin during a media roundtable on the Acropolis Rally Greece.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
“We've all the time said we don't want there to be different brands of events. We don't want there to be something like a WRC sprint. We don't want there to be something like a WRC Endurance.
“Loads of our multi-millionaires keep telling us things are too complicated. We don't must make it any more complicated.
“I already know there’s one event next year that’s going to be a lot longer, which is great, and a few others that are going to be a little bit different, for me. That’s good.”
It just isn’t clear which events might be the various length next season, but it surely is thought that the organisers of the Safari Rally Kenya have expressed their desire to carry the race in an extended format.
