World Rally Championship itineraries are a hot topic just now, with strong variance between events in 2026.
The recent round in Portugal was on the endurance side: shaekdown was on Wednesday before competition started on Thursday and stretched to Sunday with 23 special stages.
Now, Rally Estonia has unveiled an itinerary that stretches just three days, with shakedown and competitive stages both on Friday before the usual Saturday / Sunday format.
Is this clear differentiation good for the championship? If not, which is the best solution?
“As I always say, a mix is good,” Toyota driver Oliver Solberg told DirtFish. “You know, you have your classic historic rallies, Monte Carlo, Africa, Portugal: why not make them a little bit tougher, a little bit longer?
“It’s in the end quite an endurance rally, but you also need to look at… you can’t make every rally like Portugal, because I think rallies have a little bit too much freedom, they can do what they want a bit too much, I think, and it needs to be a bit more structured, [have a] proper plan beforehand of: ‘OK, you get this, you get this,’ and be a bit more futuristic in some rallies, and be a bit more old school in some rallies.
Solberg thinks a mix between futuristic and old school is the best approach
“Then you have the combo, have the mix, but it needs to be more clear, direct plan beforehand of what everyone else is allowed to do. Because in the end, the week in Portugal was long, short nights, they can put stages where they want, how far away they want, we have no sleep, you know.
“It’s tough. It’s just details.”
M-Sport’s Jon Armstrong enjoyed the variation and the “old school” aspect of Rally Portugal which reminded him of the old RAC in the UK.
“I really enjoyed the format of the rally itself, particularly on Thursday and Friday,” he said. “It felt a bit like old-school rallying, similar to how the RAC used to be, where you start in one location, do stages, stay somewhere else overnight and then work your way back towards Porto the next day. I thought that was really cool.
“It gives you that feeling of not really knowing where you are at times, which is part of the adventure of rallying. It was quite refreshing compared to the more repetitive format of doing the same loop of stages either side of service every day.”
Hyundai rival Adrien Fourmaux had no issue with any of the endurance aspects either, but feels longer rallies could be more strategically thought out.
“For sure it’s a bit more old school this one [Portugal] because of the long road section and some stages. But at the same time it was a great show. It’s also a very famous rally in the championship; we have some of the best fans in the world in here in Portugal. So it’s yeah, a very nice rally at the end,” Fourmaux told DirtFish.
“But yes, maybe we can do longer stages, I would say. Maybe fewer [stages], but [make them] longer. A bit more in the, I would say, in the daytime where people are awake. That’s all.”
