Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala would like to see events like Monza included in future World Rally Championship calendars.
Rally Monza was drafted into the WRC schedule in both 2020 and ’21 when the coronavirus pandemic caused complications for several events.
On both occasions it hosted the season finale, which Sébastien Ogier won to claim his seventh and eighth world championships respectively.
Last weekend, Monza once again enjoyed a WRC flavor with Pirelli working with WRC Promoter to celebrate its four year tenure as the championship’s tire supplier.
Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport Ford all brought Rally1 cars to the Italian Grand Prix venue with Ogier, new world champion Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux, Sami Pajari and Dani Sordo among the drivers present – along with Latvala who drove the GR Yaris Rally1 in demonstration runs.
“Actually, I’ve been really enjoying it. It’s been a really nice drive,” Latvala said. “Coming here, it’s always nice to see a lot of fans. It’s actually a really cool thing.”
Monza has twice hosted a WRC round, combining stages at the racetrack with others in nearby mountains
Alongside the main Monza Rally Show, which was won by Italian champion Andrea Crugnola, a Monza Masters Show was staged for the Rally1 cars.
Fourmaux beat new team-mate Neuville in the final on his final appearance for M-Sport, although benefited from the use of hybrid power unlike the Hyundais and Toyota.
Latvala enjoyed the spectacle so much that he feels exhibition events like Monza would be worth officially including in the championship.
“I think we could have it in the championship,” he told DirtFish. “For me, all the events don’t need to be the same.
“Some of the events we could have like a sprint-type event like this, more like a show. If we have 14, 15 world championship rallies, we could have maybe like two or three, let’s say, like a short event format, like these two days having a show and a bit of work, but still, you know, keeping it on the competition.
“I think it’s a good, nice thing for the championship.”
From 2025, WRC event organizers will have more freedom to hold events of differing lengths to create more unique challenges.
Format tweaks have already been trialed, as Safari Rally Kenya featured more competitive mileage than any other event in 2024, while Rally Italy Sardinia was shorter and more compact with shakedown held on Friday morning.
The Nairobi superspecial won't be the only stage on Safari's opening day in 2025
But there won’t be officially branded ‘sprint’ or ‘endurance’ events as previously talked about.
“We don’t want to have different types of events,” WRC event director Simon Larkin said.
“There’s just going to be a little bit more freedom for events. I know that, for example, Kenya next year is going to run over 350 kilometers. It’s a lot of kilometers, which is great. And that’s the result of an evolution of that event. It’s still only over the normal days, but we’re going to push it. There’s going to be another stage on Thursday, on the way back from Nairobi. So there’s going to be the superspecial stage, then another stage.
“So what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to encourage, yes, different personalities of events, but not having fixed titles for them. I think Italy is looking to do a revised format again, like they did this year, and that was an exciting event, it was a bit more compact, it was great.
“So yes, we’ll see some slightly different events, but evolutionary, not revolutionary.”
Additional reporting by Alasdair Lindsay.
