WRC Reviews Rally Portugal Schedule after Widespread Criticism

The World Rally Championship (WRC) and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) are reconsidering the current format of Rally Portugal after receiving strong criticism from drivers and teams over an overloaded schedule.

Sebastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera publicly expressed dissatisfaction. Rovanpera raised safety concerns, while Ogier described it as one of the most grueling rallies of his career.

Drivers Endure Grueling Schedule and Long Distances

Competitors faced 10 stages on Friday, starting as early as 7:35 AM and ending around 9:00 PM, covering a total of 683 kilometers, including 146 kilometers of competitive rally stages.

WRC Promoter admitted that the current format has “reached tolerable limits” and pledged to create new operational guidelines to regulate working hours for teams and officials.

Funding Pressure Blamed for Packed Schedule

According to the FIA, the additional stages on Friday were necessary to meet funding requirements from several regions in Portugal. However, the federation assured that this approach would not become standard practice across the WRC calendar.

Championship leader Elfyn Evans criticized the delay in addressing these concerns:

“It has been brought up in so many meetings for years and nobody is doing anything about it. I don’t know why it has to take something this extreme for people to start listening,” said Evans.