Todt calls for end to Rally 2
FIA president Jean Todt says he would like to see the Rally 2 rule currently in use in the World Rally Championship come to an end.
Rally 2, previously known as SupeRally, gives drivers the opportunity to rejoin an event on the day after they retire; albeit with a time penalty for each stage missed.
In recent years, a number of drivers have benefitted from the rule to return to action and score championship points - sometimes at the expense of drivers who have competed on the full event but have run into issues of their own.
Monte Carlo this weekend is running without the Rally 2 regulations in place after individual events were given the opportunity to opt-out of using the system.
That means drivers like Jari-Matti Latvala and Theirry Neuville have been unable to restart in Monte Carlo after being forced to retire but Todt said he was a firm believer that if you are out of an event, you are out - and there should be no second chance.
"I quite like the idea that if you have retired, you have retired," he said. "I feel it's not normal, [WRC] is the only category where, if you have retired, you can still score points. I don't see any logic. I welcome this proposal from the Automobile Club de Monaco.
"The WRC Commission will make their suggestion for the future but, for me, we have never seen any kind of racing where you retire and then can come back and score points a few hours later. I understand it can be helpful to do some further testing and to learn, but I am sure we can address those problems.
"I am completely against the idea of scoring points when you retire. I'm sorry, when you have a strong team like Ford losing a car after the fourth stage with Latvala. I feel it's a shame, but that's racing."
