Todt vows to turn WRC around

[Dangerous]

Todt vows to turn WRC around

By David Evans Tuesday, February 2nd 2010, 11:02 GMT


FIA president Jean Todt has spoken of his dissatisfaction with the current state of the World Rally Championship and his determination to turn the situation around during this morning's WRC season launch in Paris.

Talking publicly about the WRC for the first time, Todt said he was excited about the challenge ahead - and that it was part of the reason for his interest in taking on the presidency - but he admitted there were serious issues which would need to addressed.

"Rallying is very strongly implemented in my heart," said Todt, who was a rally co-driver early in his motorsport career and ran Peugeot's WRC programme in the 1980s.

"Rallying is among my priorities. It's important we are very enthusiastic about the start of new season, we have some great cars, manufacturers and drivers and co-drivers.

"But, we must be unsatisfied about the present situation. We have certain rallies as part of championship distributed around the world where there are limited numbers of manufacturers, this needs to be addressed. We are in a strong economic crisis and we need a strong effort to promote the heart of our championship.

"You can be sure of my personal commitment and we have created a rally [working] group to address the situation of rally all over the world. The World Rally Championship is the pinnacle, but we have to address rallying around the world.

"I'm very optimistic we will have a great 2010 championship, but I'm even more optimistic about the future of rally. A lot has to be improved. We must create a much bigger interest from the manufacturers, the privateers and the media. I am excited and I have the passion for this job."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81205

 

[JRS]

Talking publicly about the WRC for the first time, Todt said he was excited about the challenge ahead - and that it was part of the reason for his interest in taking on the presidency - but he admitted there were serious issues which would need to addressed.

"Rallying is very strongly implemented in my heart," said Todt, who was a rally co-driver early in his motorsport career and ran Peugeot's WRC programme in the 1980s.

No, no....you see, this isn't right. I'm sure I was told on here that Todt's heart was still with the Ferrari Formula 1 team, and that him becoming president was Yet Another Example Of Pro-Ferrari Bias™. In fact, when I suggested that he was just as likely to be biased on the rally side of things I was shouted down by the usual suspects. Hey ho.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, back on-topic.....

This is very good news IMO. The WRC has been due some serious overhauling for quite a while now, given that the current format involves everyone turning up and Loeb being declared the winner (though I accept that he had to work slightly harder last season than in previous years).

 

[Vampire]

This is very good news IMO. The WRC has been due some serious overhauling for quite a while now, given that the current format involves Citroen and Ford turning up and Loeb being declared the winner (though I accept that he had to work slightly harder last season than in previous years).

Edited for accuracy.

I hope he does manage to turn WRC around, I was an avid follower until 2 or 3 years ago when most of the main manufacturers decided to throw in the towel and quit the sport. It'd be great to see Subaru, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Skoda, Hyundai and others back again one day.

 

[rypt]

I hope he does manage to turn WRC around, I was an avid follower until 2 or 3 years ago when most of the main manufacturers decided to throw in the towel and quit the sport. It'd be great to see Subaru, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Skoda, Hyundai and others back again one day.

But would you still care how many makers are in it when they are fielding tame 1.6 turbo cars?