Put an arm round the WRC!

I’m becoming increasingly frustrated by the barrage of lazy criticism from some corners of the internet, aimed at the World Rally Championship.

As a journalist at national level in the sport, my work and that of my colleagues’ is often measured by comparison with people’s opinions of the World Championship coverage. We take no pleasure from this – we stand tall on our own merit, and if there’s a wider impact on the sport, that’s a bonus.

The WRC, whether you’re in love with it right now or not, is the reason we’re all here – we need to believe it will reach heady heights and visit these shores again. Because no amount of profile at club or national level can exist without a sport’s flagship international halo product. The WRC is ours.

I’m writing this as a rally enthusiast and not in any professional capacity, but it’s impossible not to draw on recent experiences; especially given the buzz around the 2023 RAC Rally – an event I will always look back on with pride as a highlight of my career.

Equally, I am conscious of my role as a representative of the championships and brands I present, so I’ll tread carefully as I try to very briefly pick my way through some of the sentiments I’ve read recently about the current state of the WRC.

To that end – and cards on the table – my thoughts are obviously influenced by an incredibly exciting year covering two top-flight UK rally series – the BTRDA gravel Series and the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship. In other words – I’m biased!

This season we saw record-breaking performances from astonishingly young drivers, break-through titles for popular drivers who have earnt their place in our sport and finally made it to the top, and explosive action that has had all of us – even people who probably thought a rally involved caravans and playing bridge before this season – on the edge of our seats.

In Carmarthen last Wednesday there was an addictively wholesome atmosphere at scrutineering, at which point none of us quite imagined what was in store for us as the cars arrived in the town centre for the ceremonial start; crowds of people lining every street along the route in their thousands, to cheer the competitors off to the stages.

Likewise in Aberystwyth back in September, as the Asphalt Championship went down to the wire at Rali Ceredigion; the usually quiet seaside town was transformed into a Mecca for rally fans. Hotels were full, restaurants were fully booked – the whole town felt alive.

In the weeks leading up to these events, the chatter online was overwhelmingly positive, as it was when we all drove home afterwards. Take the Malcolm Wilson Rally for example, the night before which the organisers had to take some very bold decisions in difficult circumstances, leading to a significant redesign of the entire event.

The majority of commentators on social media were rightly full of praise for their efforts, despite being inconvenienced and perhaps even left out of pocket by some of the decisions taken. But even in the same circumstances, and with an equally undeniable resounding success, would that public support have been there if this had been a WRC event?

I know this isn’t necessarily a fair comparison – the weight of public opinion is always going to land softer on a contingent of dedicated, passionate folk who give up their time on a voluntary basis and put so much into a series like the BTRDA, compared to an international event where many more people count the sport as their 9-5.

But where the comparison becomes very relevant is that the momentum of opinion is a living thing. It tends to be (and I think we’re worse at this in the UK than anywhere else in the world, though I’ll happily stand corrected) that if we’ve decided we don’t like something, we’ll stick to our guns and arrive already expecting to rubbish it. Those with a voice will then use their platform to encourage others to rubbish it, too.

I’ve seen a number of comments in relation to the amount of live coverage the RAC Rally had last week; the suggestion being that the WRC could learn a thing or two from what we did. Specifically referring to the number of live streams.

Newsflash! The WRC is literally live ALL the time.

Now you may not like elements of the coverage (and that will always be the case – you can’t please everyone etc.), but my point is that in these particular instances, pre-formed judgements that the “WRC has lost its way” led to a criticism of something that is actually factually wrong.

Are there things that need fixing with the World Championship? Undoubtedly.

Are there people working hard behind the scenes to find answers? Equally undoubtedly.

Has the loss of a UK round of the championship had a part to play in this negativity? Of course it has.

Have the commercial elements of the product got in the way of the quality of the sport, coverage, engagement with the fans and, as a result the ability for the WRC to attract new audiences and filter that profile down through the lower categories? Possibly.

All these things can be fixed; some easier than others. But what’s the point in fixing them if we’re all too busy being negative to notice the improvements when they come?

Manufacturers, governing bodies, government, local councils, local residents and the rest of our valuable stakeholders need persuading that this is a sport worth investing in. They’re going to hear the noise from us – the fans – long before they hear it from men and women in suits around a boardroom table.

I reckon we could start by taking a slice of the incredible positivity that shone out from Carmarthen last Wednesday and apply it to more balanced, enthusiastic, positive reporting. If we do that, we stand a chance of steering the momentum of negative popular opinion when it comes to top-flight rallying towards being a constructive voice.

That doesn’t mean we ignore the things that need to improve. But it’s not helpful to discredit an entire series just because it has a few creases that need ironing out behind the scenes.

I wonder how often we would have done the same thing during one of the so-called (by people like me!) ‘golden eras’, if we’d been able to take to social media and complain every time the chips were down?

Practically speaking, the WRC faces more challenges than just the weight of popular opinion of course. But listening to people with experience of not just rallying, but other sports is a good place to start. I just hope the negative voices die down long enough for them to hear.

We’re all in this together, and we should believe that everything we do or say matters.