Tommi Mäkinen defends shorter courses

Tommi Mäkinen, boss of Toyota Gazoo Racing, believes that the WRC should shorten the events on the world calendar, in order to maintain costs and increase the spectacle.

Published on 28/12/2017 à 11:15

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Quadruple world champion between 1996 and 1999 with Mitsubishi, Tommi Mäkinen saw the emergence in the 90s of reduced courses concentrated around a nerve center on rallies entered in the world championship.

Le désormais patron du Toyota Gazoo Racing estime même que les organisateurs du WRC should continue the movement of reducing distances in WRC, with sectors against the clock currently running around 350 km.

“The number of SS can stay the same, but I would like to no longer see special stages of 30 to 50 km, comments the Finn in Ilta-Sanomat. [Not having more than 250 km of special stages] would also have a significant impact in terms of costs. »

The former Subaru driver believes that two stages would be sufficient, and also specifies that more compact ES could bring more intensity to the rallies. “With shorter SS, it would be easier to organize rallies and there would no longer be a need for spare wheels. Tire management would be less important and it would be flat out from start to finish. »

For its return to the World Cup in 2017, Toyota did well on the roads of the WRC, scoring two victories with Jari-Matti Latvala in Sweden and Esapekka Lappi in Finland.