Rallying Does It Have A Future?

- Adam Towler

HOW TO SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE RALLYING?

That most noble of motorsports: not merely driver pitted against rival driver in a controlled environment, but a partnership of two human beings, trusting each other implicitly in the face of potentially mortal danger. Man and machine battling not just to be the fastest of all from point A to point B, but to conquer the conditions and the natural environment, too. Motorsport to the original template.

But something’s not right with rallying. Sure, it’s become almost fashionable to knock it, so we’ll aim to be a bit more constructive than that, but when Messrs Meaden, Barker, Vivian, Goodwin, Ingram and Beaumont, and yours truly, get round a table, a pattern emerges. Well, apart from the wily old Viv, that is: ‘Still the only place you can witness genius driving and the deployment of giant cojones together,’ he opines. ‘Splendid. Wouldn’t change a thing.’ Somehow I think the rest of us are going to have a different view…

You’ll often hear the phrase ‘I don’t know where to watch it’ applied to modern rallying, a perception based on the time when the WRC disappeared from terrestrial programming. In fact, there’s a variety of ways to watch: highlights are on Channel 5 and BT Sport in the UK, while there’s also coverage on Red Bull TV (online) and on the sport’s dedicated online portal (WRC+), which also enables all sorts of data to be accessed – although you’ll have to buy a subscription.

Rallying is crying out for the sort of fan interaction enabled by the modern world of smartphones and social media content. It’s a sport on a large scale, often elusive to cover – and far too expensive we’re always being told. But surely modern technology, from smartphones to drones, offers so many solutions.