Editor’s Blog - Why don’t more people watch Rallying?

Last week, I joined a small team of journalists as a guest of Citroën to cover the final of the World Rally Championship, RallyGB.

When you look at the plans that WRC organisers had proposed, the answer to why there aren’t more UK rally fans became increasingly obvious. Unlike Formula One, you can’t just pull up to a race track, watch the cars drive around in endless circles and head home when a winner has been declared. Rallying is a week long fight, with miles between stages.

On Tuesday, I made my way to Builth Wells to interview Sébastien Loeb and have a look around the service park. After a five hour journey from London, I was struggling to understand the logic of the organisers. Unlike previous years, when much of the RallyGB processions were based around Cardiff, this year they were to be spread out across the whole of the country.

By starting in Llandudno on Thursday and eventually concluding with a ceremonial finish in Cardiff, the intention was to give the whole of the UK an opportunity to experience the thrills of the WRC. However, I’m not sure I believe that that is what they managed to achieve. Certainly, there were plenty of fans lining the hills at Great Orme on Thursday and a remote service on the public roads near the water front managed to bring fans to view the cars but when you consider the skills of the drivers and the monstrous budgets of the teams involved, it hardly held a candle to the pageantry of Formula One. There, in the middle of the street were some of the greatest drivers on the planet and some of the spectators looked beyond them as if they weren’t there, mainly to get a glimpse of Kimi Räikkönen - who refused to even get out of his car.

Thankfully, on Friday I was able to see the true passion of rally lovers. The weather around Newtown was truly atrocious but still people clung to hillsides to watch their favourite drivers fly passed. Yet, each stage is just a single run - if you miss a car go hurtling by then you have missed your only opportunity. Even when travelling by helicopter, we still managed to miss two stages during the travel time. When we eventually flew back to Newtown (suitably covered in mud and bog water after the helicopter sunk) it was another hour's drive back to the service park in Builth Wells to grab a quick interview with a triumphant Loeb. Mikko Hirvonen had suffered a punctured radiator and was forced out of Friday’s running, effectively handing Loeb the title.

What surprised me was the dedication of the champion-elect when the title was already his. Sébastien is not the biggest fan of the media, he loves to drive and is not always akin to any hype surrounding a championship - one reason I’m sure he would have hated F1 had he made the switch.

After eight consecutive championships he is still as hungry as ever. And as the mechanics worked on his car in the background, I managed to pull him aside to ask whether he thought there was anyone who could beat him. His answer was predictably humble - “I don’t know. Maybe... but I don’t want.”

What was a long day for us, was even longer for the drivers. The service park may have been in the centre of Wales but parc fermé was in Cardiff and the cars are not transported on trucks. WRC cars are road legal and the Citroën drivers do all the road-driving themselves. Late nights and early mornings, coupled with hundreds of miles on public roads meant that Loeb could only indulge himself in half a sip of celebratory champagne on Friday night. After 45 minutes of mechanics clambering all over his car and multi-lingual interviews he was back behind the wheel.

While we may have turned around and headed for the hotel to have dinner, Loeb and Ogier were driving two of the world's most expensive cars on public roads as they made their way to Cardiff. And while my fellow reporter from Top Gear and I, were perched in front of our laptops until two in the morning, filing copy, the stars of WRC were grasping at what little sleep they could and waking before sunrise to drive the cars all the way back to the next stage.

Loeb was forced to retire on Saturday after an incident with a spectator's car between stages. His Citroën teammate, Sébastien Ogier, recovered from a crash on Thursday to win the power stage and secure third in the Championship.

After Loeb’s accident, he said: “It’s a pity because I would have liked to have finished the battle with Jari- Matti. We were on a narrow road and we came upon a car on the top of a crest where there was no visibility. The Spanish driver had the wrong reflex and pulled in to the right and we collided. The radiator was damaged and we were out on the spot. It’s proof that a rally isn’t over until you’re back in the parc fermé.”

With Loeb’s retirement, Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila eased to victory. The Finn admitted: “When Seb retired this morning the pressure lifted from my shoulders. I eased my pace and didn’t take any risks, although the change from driving flat out to driving more cautiously was tricky. But I found the right rhythm and kept my concentration, which isn’t easy when you’re not driving on the limit. The team did a great job all year and this was a brilliant way to close the season.”

It is a shame that the WRC doesn’t have as bigger following as it deserves. While each and every Formula One driver can barely move without being surrounded by a gaggle of fans, even the highest profile WRC would struggle to be recognised in public. But then again, it may not be the most accessible sport the world has to offer.