A Solution To The WRC’s Problems

A Driver Points Model Could Be a Solution to the WRC’s Problems.

The World Rally Championship is currently going through growing pains. In fact, it’s been happening for a while. The rapid expansion and contraction of the sport over the last decade has left many investors and spectators confused as to the WRC’s profitability and the direction of its future.

Luckily WRC isn’t going anywhere – that we can be sure of. Phew! But the format and regulations that govern the sport are continually being questioned. For what it’s worth, here is my two cents on how I think part of this evolution of the WRC should take shape.

I propose a Driver Point’s model similar to salary caps seen in football and rugby league to balance the distribution of skill between teams. The difference with a Driver Points system is it will not directly handicap a driver’s salary, nor will it compromise the investment strategies of individual teams. The aim of the Driver Points model is to breathe life into the manufacturer’s championship and further incentivise the investment of new and existing teams. This is something the WRC desperately needs. I can’t wait for Hyundai and Toyota to return! But to ensure that these new teams see return from their investment and aren't immediately shut out by the big boys the FIA and WRC need to help them out a little bit. The Driver Point’s model is one way of doing that.

For the most part, Volkswagen have dominated this year's manufacturers' championship.

Many sports around the world employ salary caps for their competing teams in the name of keeping the sport fair. This works by limiting the amount of money teams can pay players to lure them to their team. When this happens it’s the team with the most money that wins. I don’t like that. Nobody likes that. So, salary caps enable new entrants and smaller teams to compete on a reasonably even playing field with veteran teams. Similarly the Driver Points model will evenly divide the skill of drivers between teams. 

Here’s how it would work:

Each WRC team at the beginning of the season is allocated a finite number of Driver Points to spend. This is separate from the salaries the drivers get paid and only represents the driver’s most recent performances. We could argue that one’s salary also does that, but that’s not the point! WRC drivers & co-drivers would be split into skill tier’s based on their past results. For instance, Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala may make up the top tier of drivers, Tier 1. Mads Ostberg, Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo may make up Tier 2. Martin Prokop, Evgeny Novikov and Nasser Al-AttiyAh may make up Tier 3.  

Now stay with me for the maths! I promise it’s simple!

At the beginning of a season WRC teams are given 100 Driver Points (DP) to spend. Tier 1 drivers are the best in the sport and are worth 70DP. Tier 2 drivers are worth 40DP and Tier 3 drivers are worth 20DP. A team cannot exceed their allocation of driver points at any time throughout the season. Their total must remain under 100DP.

In 2013 Volkswagen has signed Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala. Incidentally Volkswagen is driving away with the manufacturers’ championship, much like Citroen have in the past years. Poor Ford. Both Ogier and Latvala are Tier 1 drivers worth 70DP each and by signing them both, Volkswagen’s total driver spend is 140. This combination would not be allowed under the Driver Points model. This means that Volkswagen would have to give up one of these drivers for another combination.

This wan't that exciting to watch in 2012, either.

The philosophy behind this programme is to evenly distribute driver skill between teams. This will have the benefit of preventing teams from dominating the manufacturers’ championship. It will also give developing drivers permanent seat time beside top tier drivers. However, the most significant benefit will be that new entrant teams like Mini, Toyota and Hyundai will have a better chance of consistently scoring manufactures points. This incentivises new teams to continue investment in the sport instead of withdrawing. This is a model that will likely smooth the rapid expansion and contractions we have seen of the WRC over the past decade which is to the benefit of spectators and external investors, like you and me!

The Driver Points model is designed to open the manufacturers’ championship up and make it a much closer competition. The Driver Points model does not address the domination of the drivers’ championship but it does create fairer policies for how drivers are distributed between teams. These teams after all, are the ones who provide opportunities for unproven drivers. The Driver Points model would also encourage teams to take a risk with young drivers.

Wouldn’t that be nice!

So come on, tell me! What are your ideas for improving the WRC. Would the Driver Points model work?

Rally New Zealand: As it should be

Rally New Zealand Is Dying. That was the working title of this article. Perhaps it is a little exaggerated. However, no matter the title of this article Rally NZ has many obstacles to overcome if it wishes to remain a regular part of the World Rally Championship calendar. Rally New Zealand has grown older; relying on its past affiliations to ensure its place in the WRC while other competing events have gotten younger and smarter.

The World Rally Championship is a competition

The competitive nature of the WRC extends well beyond the drivers, co-drivers and their teams that take part. Each Rally itself is in competition with other rally events for a place in the WRC calendar. Not dissimilar from the WRC manufacturers, these events compete on financial return; how many people they can attract to the event and how many cars they can sell in each region of the world.

For the first time in WRC history, 2009 saw Rally NZ relinquish its regular spot in the WRC calendar in order to share it with Australia. Now a WRC round is only held in New Zealand every two years, with the opposite year held in Australia.

There will be no Rally New Zealand this year.

We could speculate that it is because New Zealand is too small and it is too far away, but I refuse to believe this is the reason Rally NZ’s presence in the WRC is not as important as it used to be. After all, New Zealand has never been larger and it has never been less expensive for international teams to travel here.  I believe teams come to NZ because there is something magic about New Zealand. The New Zealand landscape shows off manufacturer’s cars and drivers skills like nowhere else on the planet. The spirit of NZ echoes that of the WRC’s vision too; adventure, challenge and spectacle. That is why the WRC comes here. New Zealand is special.

But Rally NZ has forgotten this:

How boring.

There has been plenty of talk over the last few weeks, including during this month’s Acropolis Rally about the future of the WRC. Discussion has centred on where to best focus the energies and investment of rallies and how to make the sport more exciting. I believe a large contributor to the excitement of a rally is seeing different makes of car competing on the stages. Widely regarded as the WRC’s most successful era was at the turn of the millennium, where there were seven manufacturers. In 2010 it had two, in 2013 there are four.

The WRC needs more manufacturers.

In an interview with Rebecca Williams on WRC.com team bosses gave their perspective on their WRC calendar. This is a perspective Rally NZ needs to take note of:

“We [the WRC] is in a difficult period” – Malcolm Wilson, M-Sport team boss

“The importance of new car markets cannot be ignored” – Jost Capito, VW Motorsport team boss

“ [We] can’t take a risk of a rally not being relevant” - Jost Capito, VW Motorsport team boss

You can listen to Rebecca’s interviews here:

http://www.wrc.com/fanzone/podcasts/capito-on-possible-wrc-changes/?fid=18635

http://www.wrc.com/fanzone/podcasts/matton-considers-possible-wrc-changes/?fid=18633

http://www.wrc.com/fanzone/podcasts/wilson-on-possible-changes-to-wrc/?fid=18631

All of their concerns are along the same lines; we need more people watching on TV, we need more people going to the stages and we need more people buying our cars. In order to keep the WRC in New Zealand, Rally NZ needs to adopt the concerns of the WRC and pioneer a new event which better shows off the cars and drivers of said teams.

How Rally NZ can re-establish itself

Reading MAXRALLY’s ‘The WRC Calendar as it should be’  by Jerry Williams I am inspired to discuss my thoughts on the issues faced by Rally NZ. Jerry’s article discusses the details this season’s WRC events have got right and what they can improve on. Rally NZ is not part of this year’s WRC calendar. So I have taken the liberty of creating my own list with hopes of inspiring discussion within our own rallying community for how we can improve New Zealand’s rallying image domestically and internationally.

Brand

Oh dear. Rally NZ has forgotten who we are:

Bland, cluttered and un-evocative.

The brand of any rally is one of its most important features. It is important because a brand communicates to consumers it’s proposition and its values. A brand is ultimately responsible for attracting customers.

Classic, simple and effective.

Cultural, modern and effective.

Imagine if Rally NZ had a brand like this:

Anticipated, exciting and passionate.

Or like this:

Courageous, proud and successful.

Rally NZ needs a brand that is attractive, fun, safe and exciting. Rally NZ needs an event sponsors will want to be a part of because it is revered by its hosts.  Rally NZ needs to be on the front foot with its presence in NZ. This doesn't require a larger budget. Team New Zealand proved that! It requires innovative thinking and involving young and passionate minds.

We must overcome the obstacles in the way of Rally NZ’s success, namely our size and our geographic location. Spectator numbers of Rally NZ pale in comparison to such events held overseas with comparatively little logistic expenses and issues. In order to compete for space on the calendar we must overcome these challenges by highlighting what is special about Rally in NZ. We must identify and promote the ‘magic’ which Sebastien Loeb himself called “The perfect rally”.

WRC promoters need to be reminded of the importance New Zealand (and Australia). In the past these two events had their own calendar slots.  Financial return on Investment is an increasingly important factor in the decision for teams to enter the WRC. Citroen boss Yves Matton selected Dani Sordo over Mads Østberg for their nationalities and chose to run Sebastien Loeb in Argentina because of the identified importance of the LATAM car market. Ford’s withdrawl as an official sponsor to M-Sport’s outfit is another example, citing a "refocusing of investment in other areas" as a reason for their withdrawal.

Rally NZ must acknowledge this if it wants to attract the attention of the FIA and its partners. The growing pains of the WRC discussed in Greece this month are also the pains of Rally NZ. If we want a world rally event in New Zealand every year we need to adopt the concerns of the FIA and WRC and cater for them. If we don’t we will lose our space in the calendar all together. I don’t think anyone is ready to let that happen.

Do you?