François Ribeiro wants to “keep everyone on the boat” in WTCR

With his immense experience at the head of the WTCC then WTCR, François Ribeiro knows all the ins and outs of a discipline which is struggling to win the favor of the general public. A fervent defender of “door boxes”, he gives us his feelings on the current situation of the championship.

François, how did you imagine your calendar?

When the question of the start of the calendar came, we were convinced that the dates would not be final. We have suffered so much over the last six months that I was convinced that even if the vaccine came at the beginning of the year, it would not solve all the problems and that we would not be able to unfold our agendas as we had imagined them. To make ours, we took a safety margin. We start as late as possible: in June.

As we have fewer tests to cram in than other disciplines, there is less urgency to start early. My desire was to start late on the Old Continent and keep the non-Europe part at the end. If the Tokyo Olympics take place, there will be a shift which should guarantee us the organization of our Asian rounds. Normally, the vaccine will have been able to be inoculated into a large part of the population.

This means that you can announce to promoters that the public is allowed at their events. We're not taking too many risks, I hope. Eight events, sixteen races, with obviously a plan B. If we can't travel to Asia, we will stay in Europe. This is not what we want. The most important thing is that we have made a calendar that controls costs as much as possible for the teams.

We have grouped the dates from neighboring countries. The real economic shock to motorsport was not in 2020, but this year. In 2020, we were impacted, but the budgets had been voted on and distributed for the most part. In 2021, it's not the same music...

Are you worried about losing competitors?

There are many championships which will suffer, it is even possible that they will not restart. We did the WTCR in 2020 with 60% less revenue. We are part of a large group (Eurosport Events belongs to the giant Discovery. Ed.), we can get through this. But independent championships or shareholders who don't want to get back on track, it's going to get stuck.

I fundamentally count on the loyalty of the teams. We offer them the cheapest calendar we have ever imagined. We will have attractive elements with new cars. I hope to have the news Hyundai (Elantra N TCR. Ed.), we should have the new Audi. Lynk & Co is on its way, Honda has already announced its drivers. I think the grid will be very correct.

We will not return to the twenty-six cars of 2019, a grid like that you do one every 5 or 10 years... With our relationship of trust with the teams and with the manufacturers, I have good hope of keep everyone on the boat this season. I don't have any warning signs like: "François, we're not going to make it, help."

Complete interview to be found in AUTOhebdo magazine n°2297 currently available in digital version.