FIA rally chief Yves Matton says there will be help for WRC privateer teams and has apologised for the lack of “strong information” so far.
There has been dismay among the WRC privateers over whether there will be any provision to help them with the repercussions of the championship currently being paused by the coronavirus pandemic. The manufacturer teams have been involved in the regular stakeholder meetings about the situation.
The World Rally Championship has been halted since the early end to Rally México in March, with the following events in Argentina, Portugal and Sardinia all postponed and the Safari Rally in July expected to follow suit. Matton said it was difficult for the FIA to give regular updates on when the rally calendar might resume or assistance for teams given that the global situation was constantly changing.
“I would be really happy to communicate more, but especially in the federation it’s only valuable when it is the right and accurate information,” Matton added. “On a day-by-day basis we are trying to have information and we are working on a daily basis with the promoter and everybody to have events running this year and to start the championship as soon as possible. I cannot communicate things that are not accurate to the reality. Today I cannot tell you if we will be back in Kenya, Finland or Turkey – for sure it’s difficult to give accurate information.
“We will take into consideration the difficulties of the private teams and we will be reviewing WRC2/3 and Junior WRC once we have accurate information on the number of events we are able to have in the second half of the season. We know we will have to do something to help them.”
