Teams angry over 2005 service plans New Zealand - 14/04/2004 12:30:51 Leading World Rally Championship teams have reacted angrily to news that the FIA, world motorsport’s governing body, is considering banning mid-leg servicing for the start of next year. Currently, drivers return to service mid-way through each day’s leg of a rally for a comprehensive service. As part of the discussions on cost-cutting and the proposed ‘super-rally’ rules (which award points for each leg of the event) for 2005, the possibility of limiting mid-leg service to 10 minutes had been raised. Teams have now discovered, however, that a complete ban on servicing, save for refuelling could be on the cards. This raises the possibility of cars having to complete around 150-200 kilometres of competitive mileage a day without repair. Teams have pointed out that this raises safety concerns, and also question how it will cut costs, as they still have to bring spares and personnel for end-of-day service. “The FIA’s proposal is feasible, but I’m not sure it’s desirable,” said Subaru team director David Lapworth in this week’s Motorsport News. “Technically, it’s not a large step to make a car do 150 kilometres – we sometimes do 200km – but that’s testing. On rallies, you make mistakes and find rocks that weren’t there in recce. “The consequences are wide-ranging. What degree of suspension damage will you be allowed to continue with? What happens if you knock out a headlight? What do we do with all the personnel we’ve invested in?” This is a view backed up by the boss of Ford works team M-Sport, Malcolm Wilson. “It’s a bit of a shock to me, ” he said. “We were talking about coming back to service for at least 10 minutes, during which you could at least bleed brakes. On asphalt, there’s a safety aspect to consider, too.” Mitsubishi motorsport boss Sven Quandt has expressed disappointment that the excitement of the mid-day service park will be lost for spectators and sponsors. “We need the service park,” he said. “It’s dramatically important in Europe and Japan. Imagine we cannot invite people, because there is nothing to show. This is the best way to invite people to rallies. If we cannot invite people, there is no point - this is our marketing tool.” Peugeot Sport boss Corrado Provera has also suggested that the changes will do little to limit costs. “It’s a pity,” he said. “It’s good to have service and show the cars to people. Even if we don’t change anything, they can see the cars. It doesn’t cost anything. The mechanics are paid whether they change anything or not. We can limit the costs, of course, but there’s a point at which it ceases to be reasonable.” The subject is likely to come under discussion in the next meeting of the WRC Commission in late April. http://www.wrc.com/News.aspx?PO_ID=2321&flash=False&lang=en_GB -- PSYCHO MOUNTAIN BIKER http://www.formosanfattire.com --

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