Multiple drivers have spoken in favor of Rally Poland returning to the World Rally Championship calendar in future, despite spectator problems early in the rally that caused multiple stage cancellations.
Spectator control was a worry heading into the rally, given Poland had lost its place on the calendar after its 2017 edition specifically due to problems with spectators standing too close to the road. It had previously been given a yellow card by the FIA for such problems in 2015.
Poland organizers also faced a shaky start to the 2024 edition: shakedown was red-flagged for 30 minutes, then stages three and seven were cancelled. But after an interruption to stage nine, Świętajno, there were no more red flags deployed for the rest of the event.
Despite the early issues, several drivers were supportive of Poland’s WRC return and keen to see it return in the future.
Championship leader Thierry Neuville led the argument, believing the efforts of organizers, competitors and the FIA to improve spectator safety paid off.
“If you look at the amount of spectators and encouragement and enthusiasm we got this weekend, that’s what we want to see from a WRC event,” Neuville told DirtFish.
“For sure there are other aspects and safety and so on, but I think that throughout the weekend the promoter and the organizer have shown that they can increase [their efforts].
“[There were] no cancelled stages on Sunday. And I don’t believe there was any yesterday afternoon, so it went in the right way. It was also a good decision from the FIA to show the example since the beginning. It made it very clear that if the safety wasn’t there, it was stopped.
I'd much prefer to come somewhere like this, where the rally's really wanted, there's passion for itElfyn Evans
“It was a nice rally, a beautiful place. The roads obviously are very spectacular. Not what I prefer the most, but the rally definitely deserves a place in the championship, every year or every second year.”
Neuville’s title rival Elfyn Evans agreed with the Hyundai driver’s assessment.
“I think it’s a good rally,” he said. “The stages are really good. It’s clear there’s some more work to be done on the spectator control, but equally, I’d much prefer to come somewhere like this, where the rally’s really wanted, there’s passion for it, just maybe needs a bit more work on education and controlling. Then you’d have a brilliant event. The ingredients are here for a really good rally.”
Podium finisher Adrien Fourmaux also highlighted the rally’s strong logistical setup. Plenty of spectator-friendly action took place next door to the service park at the Mikołajki Area, which featured three times as a head-to-head superspecial and then twice as part of a longer stage on Sunday, including the powerstage.
“I think it really deserves to be in the World Rally Championship,” said Fourmaux. “The stages are really good to get the service just next to the powerstage, etc. It makes the people quite concentrated in the same place and it’s really, really good. There were thousands and thousands of spectators. It’s fantastic.
The nature of Rally Poland brought smiles to all the drivers' faces
“Maybe [the organizers need] to improve the safety in the forest, but for the rest, it’s really nice. We can feel the cheering from everybody around us. Even on the road section, people are kind with us. It’s a really great event, so it deserves to be in the championship.”
M-Sport team principal Richard Millener had made an appeal on live television after the fifth red flag of the rally on Świętajno, pleading with spectators to stand back from the road and not take risks for the sake of taking photos.
Poland’s high speed nature provides a double-edged sword: while it makes policing spectators difficult, it’s also part of the reason Millener believes it is an attractive addition to the championship.
“Adrian came back [after the stages] and in our service area; we have some digital screens and we were playing some of the footage on there,” said Millener. “He watched it and he turned around to Emily [Chapman], our PR co-ordinator, and said: ‘f***ing hell, is that how fast it looks? It feels fast in the car, but I never knew it was that fast’. Like, this is just crazy, this rally.”
Fourmaux couldn't believe how fast Rally Poland looked from the onboard footage
Millener expressed further sympathy for the rally organizers, pointing out that rallying as a whole would need to improve its handling of spectator safety if it wants to achieve its wider goals of popularity growth.
“We’re going to have to be better at this,” added Millener. “If we’re going to grow the sport, which we want to grow, we’re going to get more spectators. So we’re going to have to get used to these kind of things, communicate earlier, stronger and better and more consistently about what spectating is about.
“It’s about one rule. Everyone that goes to watch [the stages] need to come home again that evening.”
Rally Poland is expected to form part of the European Rally Championship schedule again in 2025.
