Monte Carlo is to the World Rally Championship what the Monaco Grand Prix is to Formula One. Aside from being held in the same tiny European principality, it's probably the most iconic, most well-known rally stage in the world. They couldn't cancel it. They wouldn't. They have. Sort of.
Headlines around the motorsport world have been shouting that the Monte Carlo stage will be absent from the 2009 WRC calendar for only the third time since the series' inception. But that's only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Starting in two years' time, every stage on the race calendar will alternate years, in a bid to include as many locations as possible in the series each year without overcrowding the calendar and putting additional stress on the teams. (And the motoring press, for that matter, thank you very much.) Whereas this year saw no less than 16 rally stages in the WRC, next year will be reduced to 15, and the 2009 and 2010 calendars will be burdened by only 12 rounds each. Yet over the course of the '09 and '10, 24 countries will have hosted WRC stages. So in point of fact, while the Monte Carlo stage is cancelled for the 2009 schedule, it returns in 2010 and will apparently alternate every year thereafter.
Follow the jump to view the full calendars for the 2009 and 2010 seasons of the FIA World Rally Championship.
[Source: Autosport]
2009 FIA World Rally Championship:
Ireland 01-Feb
Norway 15-Feb
Cyprus 15-Mar
Portugal 05-Apr
Argentina 26-Apr
Italy 24-May
Greece 14-Jun
Poland 28-Jun
Finland 02-Aug
Australia 06-Sep
Spain 04-Oct
GB 25-Oct
2010 FIA World Rally Championship:
Monte Carlo 24-Jan
Sweden 14-Feb
Mexico 07-Mar
Jordan 11-Apr
Turkey 25-Apr
New Zealand 16-May
Indonesia 20-Jun
Russia 18-Jul
Bulgaria 08-Aug
Germany 22-Aug
Japan 12-Sep
France 10-Oct
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Timothy Auhll @ Dec 10th 2007 6:12PM
That might be something Nascar could do to some extent Open up more markets without adding more races. Add addtional race tracks to cover different markets, some tracks have even dates [years] and some with odd. Bring back the "ROCK"
naggs @ Dec 10th 2007 6:19PM
the problem with that is unlike wrc, someone has to put up a lot of money to build and maintain a racetrack and they want to get a return on their investment in NASCAR
noone is going to build a track for 1 payday every 2 or 3 years
Manolo @ Dec 13th 2007 9:14PM
Please, please, a little bit better reporting. The rally has NOT BEEN CANCELLED in 2009, it will simply not be in the FIA calendar for that year but it will still run as usual.
chairman @ Dec 10th 2007 6:12PM
The FIA seems hell-bent on killing the WRC. Max Mosley needs to get the boot, ASAP.
leather bear @ Dec 10th 2007 6:12PM
Actually, a stage isn't the entire event, it's a sub-section. The complete event is still called a rally. A Monte Carlo "stage" would be one of several competitive sections that in total comprise the Monte Carlo "Rally".
David(Postal) @ Dec 10th 2007 6:19PM
I actually think this is a pretty interesting idea adding variety.. I really wish WRC would catch on in the US, you would think it could with the success of the WRX and Evo
RobZ4 @ Dec 10th 2007 6:20PM
Well that really sucks. The Monte Carlo was my favorite rally. Thanks a lot you bastards at the FIA.
WRC05 @ Dec 10th 2007 6:22PM
I think it's a good idea to shorten the rounds and alternate countries. It will allow more countries to host the WRC event and not have so much stress on the rally teams.
Anyone knows when Mitsubishi will rejoin WRC? They really need to come back.
jg @ Dec 10th 2007 6:42PM
Love that track. Drove it last year in a Mercedes B class rental. Could have set a good time except there was a carnival at the piers.
fuzzy @ Dec 10th 2007 6:49PM
Hmm...
I guess the one silver lining is the possibility of more locations for rally, one of which would be the US. Mexico may be close, but it's still not the same as a rally here.
But it is somewhat of a pipe dream. Unless the rally course were an oval with only left turns, I doubt it'd be popular here anyways.
mattypape @ Dec 10th 2007 6:50PM
hmm... fair enough as it is nice to see a few different rallies coming in but i think they should have kept monte carlo and not bothered with ireland.
however i am happy to see indonesia back on the calender for 2010 after a long absence, it will present a new challege for some drivers im sure.
diesel @ Dec 11th 2007 9:59AM
Ireland was one of the best rallys this year, a huge amount of spills and thrills, very difficult for the drivers with many diffrent surface types, and terrible weather, just what ralling is all about. I may be slightly biased as I live in Ireland, but rally driving is huge here with loads of diffrent events each year, this was the one we were missing.
mattypape @ Dec 10th 2007 6:59PM
oh and the FIA should be trying to encourage more manufacturer based teams to rallying, 3 makes and 4 cars is just daft, there were 7 manufacturers just 6 years ago although it has been worse furthur back.
And the FIA certianly holds some of the blame, Max Mosley out please!
why not the LS2LS7? @ Dec 10th 2007 9:43PM
They're trying, through incredibly hamfisted adjustments to the regulations. A while back they almost passed a spec transmission requirement that would have driven Subaru (one of the stalwarts) out. They also wanted to dump turbos.
At the last minute they wised up and decided to instead require there be at most 1 computer-controlled diff in the car, amongst other restrictions. These were far smarter restrictions than what FIA wanted to put in place.
Let's face it, WRC needs a total redo. It's not like rallying of old anymore. I'm not saying it absolutely has to be slowed down, but that's likely what it'll take to make it affordable to race in WRC again.
gus @ Dec 10th 2007 7:23PM
That's like taking Daytona 500 out of NASCAR's schedule!!
psarhjinian @ Dec 10th 2007 9:04PM
One could only hope...
why not the LS2LS7? @ Dec 10th 2007 7:50PM
FIA is really on a roll this week.
Cypher09 @ Dec 10th 2007 8:18PM
Thanks to Mad Max for killing F1 and WRC in the same month.
EJ25RUN @ Dec 10th 2007 9:01PM
There is no level of how stupid this is!
i mean lets imagine this was done to...
1. INDY 500
2. MONACO GP
3. ASSEN TT
4. LE MANS 24
5. DAKAR RALLY
YES PEOPLE, THIS IS ON THAT HIGH OF A SCALE!
iomatic @ Dec 10th 2007 10:13PM
In the end, WRC beats the pants off oval tracks. Any day.
No. You have nothing to refute. Don't try. Go away.