Neuville shares his vision for future WRC event format

The format of WRC events has been a hot topic this season with the Hyundai driver one of the most vocal in pushing for the championship to improve its overall appeal.

WRC drivers have been critical of the current event format with the length of the days and road sections a particular bone of contention.

In response to the criticism a raft of proposals have been collated by the WRC Commission before being tabled to the FIA earlier this month.

While it is understood an attempt to reduce the minimum event length to 250 kilometres for 2024 was rejected, the FIA has ratified a new points system that will see points attributed after Saturday’s leg and a new allocation of points specifically for Sunday, in a bid to spice up the final day of rallies.

The WRC could yet undergo further changes in the future following the FIA’s decision to create a new working group designed to help forge a pathway for rallying at all levels.

The group is headed by FIA deputy president Robert Reid, the 2001 World Rally Championship title-winning co-driver, and the 1981 WRC co-driver champion David Richards, who is the chairman of Motorsport UK.

Asked for his opinion on the future of the WRC format, Neuville revealed he would like to see more variety in the length of rallies and the return of iconic events of the past.

“For me, first of all, and like I have always said, the format of the rally is too long, and it is a problem as nobody follows the rally for four days,” Neuville told Motorsport.com.

“However, to not completely change the rally format I would keep Monte Carlo as a four-day event, and I would make the Safari Rally longer to be like five or six days long, but with longer stages to create a bit of excitement like in the past.

“I would bring back the iconic events like Argentina and Wales, and I think they are both candidates or would like to come back.

“Then I would make the other rallies shorter to be Friday and Saturday only. You could have shakedown on Friday morning and then start at midday and run until eight in the evening and maybe 10-11pm on tarmac in the dark.

“Then I would do a long Saturday and finish in the evening, before a nice party for the people in the Service Park and concert in the evening.

“I would then have a Sunday [at some events] where we do one stage but repeated and…