As its identify suggests, the World Rally-Raid Championship is the premier cross-country rally sequence with stops throughout the globe from the Americas to the Center East. Because the W2RC nears the tip of its third season, nevertheless, some really feel they may have bitten off greater than they may chew.
In a sequence of posts on X, previously Twitter, Shinsuke Umeda opined bringing collectively main rally raids around the globe below a single banner is stretching groups’ sources skinny whereas poor advertising and marketing gives little incentive for them to race frequently. Regardless of ending runner-up within the 2023 SSV standings, he has solely run the season-opening Dakar Rally to date in 2024 because of these elements.
“The principles and legal guidelines for rally raids range considerably relying on the occasion, with every organiser operating issues as they see match,” he wrote. “Now, the FIA is utilizing Dakar as bait to forciby unify them, which is inflicting issues.”
The W2RC is headlined by the Dakar, which everybody reasonably acquainted with off-road racing definitely is aware of, in Saudi Arabia. The sequence then stays within the Center East for the the Abu Dhabi Desert Problem earlier than heading to Europe for the BP Final Rally-Raid. A spherical journey throughout the Atlantic Ocean rounds out the season with the Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina adopted by the Rallye du Maroc in October. In complete, the 2024 season visits six international locations for 5 rounds.
A world championship clearly requires groups to journey so much, however Umeda identified the logistics to get to a rally raid are usually not as easy as in pavement-based sequence. Rallies are usually farther from inhabitants hubs and are headquartered at momentary bivouacs quite than everlasting amenities, which means hauling personnel and gear is dearer and maybe complicated. The FIA doesn’t assist groups with transport save for bringing autos from the Dakar to Abu Dhabi, although Umeda added it’s “cheaper to rent a neighborhood tow truck.” The Dakar’s overseer Amaury Sport Organisation additionally arranges for transport autos from Spain to Saudi Arabia and again, although some groups nonetheless choose to go on their very own whether it is extra reasonably priced.
Umeda was capable of run all 5 races in 2023 as a result of his staff Xtremeplus is used to transporting autos for different outfits comparable to Overdrive Racing in Europe and Africa. When going to the Americas for the DR 40 and Sonora Rally in Mexico, Polaris lined the prices because of his excessive place within the standings and use of an American-built Polaris RZR.
In addition to costly journey, Umeda added a scarcity of selling for the non-Dakar races provides opponents much less purpose to make the journeys, particularly if they’re out of competition for the title.
“It’s not that drivers and producers don’t worth the World Championship,” he continued, “however the prices of transporting automobiles all around the world by airplane (with out assist from the FIA) are exorbitant and there may be little advertising and marketing profit for every occasion (e.g., American followers don’t find out about Abu Dhabi and Saudi followers do not know the place Mexico is). Apart from the odd drivers like me and (Yazeed) Al-Rajhi, who race as a result of we need to, most give up as quickly as they not have an opportunity to win the title.
“W2RC races transfer from distant space to a different worldwide, so the price of airlifting machines and mechanics is big with no assist from the FIA. […] The second skilled groups don’t have any probability of profitable the World Championship, they provide up collaborating. For instance, if a Center Jap driver doesn’t win, it could simply be a advertising and marketing loss if he runs a rally in South America.”
Though Umeda’s level issues the FIA aspect, the bikes function a noticeably smaller area for a similar purpose: after 5 marques duked it out in 2023, the 2024 FIM producer’s championship solely has Hero and Honda contending. GasGas, KTM, and Husqvarna, respectively the winners of the 2022 and 2023 Dakar Rallies and 2023 W2RC, opted in opposition to competing for the 2024 title due to a reshuffled price range by their father or mother firm Pierer Mobility Group and the low return on funding introduced on by the championship’s low advertising and marketing footprint.
“The championship itself works fairly nicely, it’s important to admit, however the principle race continues to be the Dakar,” Andreas Hölzl, the supervisor for the three Pierer groups, defined in March. “It’s probably the most well-known, fascinating, and prestigious race, and that’s what we give attention to. All of this value some huge cash, and in instances like these, it have to be nicely invested. The monetary side is one factor since you additionally should pay a charge to the promoter, and media presence can also be not as we want it but.”
In his solely W2RC begin of 2024 on the Dakar Rally, Umeda completed twentieth in SSV.
