The FIA World Motor Sport Council this week announced the 2012 World Rally Championship calendar which most notably marks the return of Rally Monte Carlo as the series opener next January. The WMSC also introduced some important rule changes for next year in an effort to cut out the tactics employed to avoid running first on the road on a gravel rally.
Under the current rules, the drivers enter the first day of stages in championship order. On the second and third day of stages, the drivers then enter the stages dependent on their position in the overall standings at the start of the day. In other words, the fastest driver at the end of day one will run all the stages on day two first on the road, and the same again applies on day three. It is disadvantageous to run earlier in the running order on a gravel rally as the first driver sweeps away loose gravel to reveal a more grippy racing line. On many occasions during the last two seasons tactics have been employed where a driver deliberately slows down to lose time to slot behind another driver, ensuring a better running order position for the next day.
This created some controversial yet fascinating tactical battles, none more evident than in Rally Jordan 2010. The teams deliberately incurred penalties to influence the road order.
However, the same tactics will not be seen in 2012 after a rule change from the FIA. The notes from the World Motor Sport Council state the following;
From 1 January 2012 the shakedown will be used as a qualifying stage for all Priority 1 and 2 drivers to determine the start order for each individual gravel rally. Taking into account the shakedown times, P1 and P2 crews – in order of fastest to slowest – will be permitted to select their start positions. Subsequent days, all Priority 1 and 2 crews will restart in reverse order. The start position of all remaining crews will be determined according to the current regulations.
More simply put, on gravel rallies the shakedown stage will be used as a qualifying stage allowing the fastest driver to have preference on his road position. The shakedown takes place the day before a rally commences and in the past has been used to allow the drivers to fine tune their set-up and get used to the underlying conditions. Shakedown is usually a short stage under 6kms in length, which drivers can use up to four times. For 2012, the drivers will have an incentive to push hard in this stage in order to achieve a beneficial road order position. This intriguing rule change will make the Thursday before a rally much more interesting. Drivers will be forced to commit fully to shakedown and must choose a smart starting position. Place yourself too far down the starting order and you may be held up by the inconsistency of less competitive drivers who start in-front of you.
On day two and three, the old regulation of running the crews in reverse order will apply. For example, imagine there are ten P1 and P2 crews. Suppose Sebastien Loeb is first overall, and Matthew Wilson was tenth at the end of day 1. On the next day, Matthew Wilson will run first through the stages and Sebastien Loeb will be tenth on the road. He has not been punished for being first overall, as is the case under the current regulations.
This new system definitely has its merits. However, the current system of tactical decision making makes a rally more interesting over its duration. A similar reverse order system was used several seasons ago and it allowed the driver in first to almost run-away with rally victory. They could extend their lead by benefiting from the most advantageous road order position. No system is perfect, let’s see how things pan out next year.
Another small rule change is as follows;
From 1 January 2012, save dispensation, both crew members must have a valid driving license throughout an event.
This rule may have been enforced to prevent a repeat of Petter Solberg’s incident in Sweden earlier this year. Petter received a driving ban which took effect just before the final stage, forcing his co-driver Chris Patterson to drive through that stage. Under the new ruling, unless both drivers are fit to drive (with a valid license) then they cannot compete.
The full briefing can be read here; http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/2011/Pages/wmsc-030611.aspx
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