Yves Matton: “Having a championship comprising a maximum of 16 meetings”

It was announced that the schedule would be revealed very early this season. He was expected in June… (he cuts)

We are ahead of last year (laughing). This should be done at the next World Council, on October 4. We are so close to this meeting that we prefer to follow the usual procedure and submit it to this Council.

What caused the announcement to be delayed?

In June, the World Council asked us to look into a system of rotating events. This made things more difficult. We are close to the end of this study. This idea comes from the fact that there are more quality rallies meeting the desired standards than places on the calendar. Having a long-term vision, we had to consider how to introduce these tests at this level.

How will this rotation system work? Will this only concern Germany and Turkey who seemed to be in limbo?

Not only that. It is still too early to talk about it, but there were organizers interested in this system for different reasons. It is certain that in the decisions that will be made, the importance of the automobile market will be taken into account, as is the case with Germany, but this test also has weak points and the implementation of the rotation can allow tests to correct these deficiencies in the future.

Will this rotation come into effect next year?

Yes.

[...]

Are we going to stay at 14 rounds?

At the moment, it is not possible to go beyond 14 rounds. The manufacturers present are not capable of it. Our strategy is to have a championship comprising a maximum of 16 meetings. We will not be able to go beyond that. If, in the years to come, we go up to 16, there will be 8 in Europe and 8 outside Europe... but for the moment, we do not have the solution to compete for more than 14.

Discover the entire interview with Yves Matton, in issue 2234 of AUTOhebdo, always available in digital version.