– It feels like we’re racing to the fullest, and then we’re just being given the thumbs up: it’s nice that you drove. You won’t get a decent prize. The situation is what it is. Gotta go with it this year. Hopefully there will be changes for next year and we will go ahead with sport again.
Ott Tänak too the comment at the finish line of the Portuguese race says a lot about the drivers’ attitude to the points calculation system of the World Rally Championship, which has been renewed for this season.
At the beginning of the season, it was judged to be confusing and difficult to understand for the taste of the general public, and the sports people also saw in it potential loopholes in terms of sport.
A foretaste of the latter was given in the Swedish competition, when he celebrated the second World Cup competition victory of his career Esapekka Lappi didn’t even reach the biggest point pot. Lapland got 19, but finished second Elfyn Evans 24 MM points. Those who finished third and fourth Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville both got only one point less than Lapland.
However, the confusion in Umeå’s snow was only a prelude to what was to come.
Helps the less successful
The reason behind the rule change was above all the effort to get rid of “Sunday driving”, because in previous seasons the drivers very often focused on Sunday morning special tests mainly to save their tires for the extra points of the power stage special test.
Now on Sunday mornings they have started to really race, but the achieved goal has been buried under the disadvantages.
In the current system, conditional World Championship points are awarded to the ten fastest drivers based on Saturday night’s rankings, with the maximum score being 18 points. However, in order to get the points, the driver must clear the finish line on Sunday.
Sunday, on the other hand, also has its own, separate competition, the seven fastest ones are rewarded with additional points, the maximum being seven points. As in previous seasons, five more World Cup points are up for grabs on the power stage that concludes the competition.
The maximum number of points per competition is still the familiar 30 from previous seasons, but instead of winning, the new system favors consistency and softens failures.
Tänak, who started the season as the biggest champion favorite, started disastrously by his own standards, and did not achieve a single prize place in the first four World Championship competitions. However, after six races, he is second in the World Championship.
– This points calculation really helps less successful drivers who have problems. On the other hand, it doesn’t reward winners. For example, Elfyn (Evans) drove a really good and clean race in Croatia. He only made one small spin, was in the fight for victory the whole time and finished second in the end. Still, he ended up getting less points than me, even though I finished fourth.
– This is definitely not what the sport needs right now, but you have to try to make the most of the situation. Of course, the competition getting tougher on Sunday is a positive thing. A winner should still always be a winner, says Tänak.
Neuville, who leads the World Series, has achieved one victory and two third places.
The Belgian would also lead the World Championship with the old points calculation system, but in that second place he would have only driven four races Sebastien Ogier, thanks to two wins and two second places, which now qualify for fourth place in the series. With the current rules, it is more difficult to tear up or catch up on point differences than before.
– I’m not a big fan of this system. However, now you just have to try to develop the best strategy with which you can collect points. Even in Kenya, I got a decent score, even though a technical problem ruined my race. It’s a shame that standing on the podium no longer brings the same feeling as before, because someone else, not the driver who gets there, might still get more points, Neuville describes.
Toyota team manager Jari-Matti Latvala sees the sport’s image as a threat, that the importance of winning a competition and climbing the podium is starting to remain mostly symbolic.
– In Croatia, we saw a situation where no driver smiled on the podium. It’s a dangerous thing. I worry if the drivers are no longer happy with the good ranking. I believe that there will be a change in the points calculation for next season. This has gotten out of hand in the sense that too much emphasis is placed on Sunday.
Until now, the Hyundai drivers have managed to refine the rally Sundays to their advantage clearly better than the Toyota drivers. Neuville’s average score on Sundays is 9.2 and Tänak’s is 8.8 points. Among the Toyota drivers, part-time driver Ogier has reached the best point average (7.0), while Evans’ reading is 6.2.
The new points calculation system has garnered praise from top drivers across the board, and the chorus of critics also includes the person who was alerted to the World Rally Championship in Poland Kalle Rovanperä.
– The system is confusing and is too forgiving to those who haven’t had a good weekend. Even if you’re pretty bad on Saturday, say fourth or fifth place, you can still get roughly the same points as the winner. I think the winner should always get the most points in all situations. You have to get a prize if you have completed better than others.