Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala has confirmed to DirtFish that the Japanese manufacturer was not in favour of the change in points structure which has been implemented for next year’s World Rally Championship.
Latvala agreed completely that change was needed in an effort to contain the tactical driving deployed on the final day of a WRC round – but he felt the new rule was in danger of confusing fans.
“This is a little bit the worry in Toyota Gazoo Racing,” said Latvala. “We are a bit worried the points system is now a little bit too complicated for the fans to understand the structure of when, let’s say, it feels like there are two competitions.
“We were not in favour of this change. Of course we understand the concern of Sunday, but from a team perspective we were thinking of a smaller change – something like giving one point per stage win.”
Latvala added that the change could simply shift the tactical approach from a Sunday to a Saturday.
“If,” he added, “a Rally1 driver retires from Friday, but comes back on Saturday – they can save their tires through Saturday for a big attack on Sunday. And if the driver then wins everything on Sunday, that can be 12 points.
That’s more than double the five on offer for a powerstage win right now and we think that’s maybe a bit much for a driver who retired and didn’t complete the full route.”
