MOTORSPORT: Another wait on Rally Oz

Rally Australia’s agonising wait over its future in the World Rally Championship goes on.

The 2020 WRC calendar, originally due in June and – after several delays – more recently expected this month, now won’t come until next month, at best just eight weeks before what could be the last Rally Oz.

The Safari Rally in Africa is set to return to the WRC next year after a 17-year absence, a new Japanese round is expected to become the season finale, and New Zealand looks certain to replace Australia in the series.

But it seems there won’t be an announcement until after the World Motor Sport Council meeting in Cologne, Germany, on October 4 – two weeks from today.

While the delays have caused heartache for Rally Australia organisers, preparing for this season’s finale at Coffs Harbour on November 14-17, the world head of motorsport, Jean Todt, gleefully says the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) of which he is president has “a good problem”.

“We wanted to keep the calendar with 14 rallies (for next season) and we had more interest than 14 organisers, so we have to make a long-term strategy in order to keep 14 rallies in the calendar and choose the best events on a long-term basis,” Todt said.

“It takes some time, you need to discuss with different people and you need to adjust it.

“But now I would say we are in the final part of the strategy conclusion and it’s a very short time before we finalise it.

“It means there is a lot of interest from strong promoters and countries to organise rallying.”

Unless the FIA and the Red Bull-associated company that promotes the series, WRC Promoter, are trying to leverage bigger fees from countries wanting to be in the championship, the issue seems to be which European rounds are on or off the 2020 calendar.

David Evans, a veteran correspondent on the sport, reported this week that Spain is understood to have been dropped in favour of Germany while the event on the French island of Corsica is expected to be dropped.

But Todt told Evans: “You won’t get anything from me about the 2020 calendar [before the Cologne meeting].”

WRC Promoter has been concerned that Rally Oz has not been drawing enough spectators at Coffs Harbour, especially as the season’s ‘grand final’ for several years.

It has wanted the Australian event closer to a major city.

New Zealand, once a fixture in the WRC and later on a two-year rotation with Australia, has lobbied hard to get back on the calendar for the first time since 2012, especially with its top rally driver Hayden Paddon continuing to pursue a return to the series.

Far from demoralised by Renault’s below-par season in Formula 1, Daniel Ricciardo says he has “quite enjoyed” his move to the French manufacturer’s team and is “really driven to want more”.

Renault is fifth in the constructors’ world championship behind Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault-powered McLaren with seven races remaining, the first of them in Singapore on Sunday night.

The big questions are whether Ferrari can continue its success after Charles Leclerc’s victories on power tracks Spa and Monza in Belgium and Italy and whether the youngster can continue to upstage his multiple world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Singapore is a street circuit that should suit the Honda-powered Red Bull car of Max Verstappen and probably the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas more than the Ferraris.

Renault did surprisingly well at Monza but may be hampered in Singapore by its poor aerodynamics.

Carsales.com.au global ambassador Ricciardo has said that Renault “want to change the whole aerodynamic philosophy” for next year.

“The base of the car (this year’s RS19), the fundamentals, the base direction, has limited us,” he said.

“It can’t really be developed much more. At times this year we’ve been further back than we expected and hoped.

“I have worked more hours and probably worked harder this year than in previous years [at Red Bull].

“It has still been quite enjoyable because the environment is different – new people, new relationships.

“If anything, it has reiterated what I want in the sport. Get me back to the front,” the seven-time GP winner said.

Of Singapore he said: “I relish the physical and mental challenge. It’s an intense race weekend and one you have to be ready for, more so than other races.

“You need to be sharp for Singapore. The heat and humidity seems to stay within the walls and buildings. There isn’t much circulation and if you lift your visor to get some fresh air, you don’t get any, and it makes it worse!

“The circuit is long and busy. You have to get close to the exit walls and sometimes you’re there holding your breath a bit.

“I have always enjoyed racing at street circuits. It’s a feeling of being absolutely on it, close to the edge and it’s an awesome feeling.

“Singapore was the first real night race in F1 and there’s something I like about waking up later and then going to bed in the early hours.

“I’ve enjoyed some success [in Singapore] with some podiums in recent times. We need to back up the excellent result in Italy and put the heat on the race for fourth.

“We deserved the double top-five finish in Italy. We clearly had the pace from the moment we hit the track on Friday and, from there, executed a really good weekend to come away with 22 points.

“It was nice to have my best result for the team. We know now there will be eyes on us to repeat that, but I can see no reason why we can’t string together more solid results and really chase down fourth place. The challenge excites me.”

Contrary to a front-page report in The Australian newspaper yesterday, Will Power will be racing in the IndyCar season finale at Laguna Seca in California this weekend rather than attending a dinner with US president Donald Trump at the White House.

Power is out of calculations for a repeat of his 2014 title, but his two Penske teammates – American Josef Newgarden and Frenchman Simon Pagenaud – are in contention.

Newgarden is favourite for his second title in three years, with fellow American Alex Rossi his main rival, driving for Andretti Autosport.

There are 41 points between them with a maximum 104 to earn in the double-points finale.

Pagenaud is only one point behind Rossi, while New Zealander Scott Dixon, a five-time champion driving for Chip Ganassi, is the fourth mathematical chance to win the championship, but he starts 85 points down on Newgarden.

Power is fifth in the series.