FIA shoots the shoot-out stage plan…
…for now. The official release published after the WMSC meeting in Beijing did not provide more details on why the WRC Commission proposal for rule changes for 2015 was rejected, but let’s presume that it was all about the infamous shoot-out stage idea. Just when we thought this idea was set to become reality, ditching well known stage format for something… strange, FIA delayed the changes by sending the rules proposal back to its authors.
The WRC calendar for 2015 remains unchanged compared to this year, but there are changes in how the Rally 2 penalties are handled.
Excerpt from official FIA statement:
The following amendments have been made to the Sporting Regulations, applicable from January 2015:
- In order to give more of an advantage to crews contesting all the stages, a seven-minute penalty, instead of five minutes, will be applied for a missed stage. The 10-minute penalty for missing the last stage of a day remains applicable.
- A WRC Team will be permitted a one-day test for each competition it nominates.
- Current Group N4 cars will be renamed as R4, in order to integrate them into the rally pyramid. This applies to all cars in the category worldwide.
The calendar for the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship is confirmed as follows:
25 January Rallye Monte-Carlo *
15 February Rally Sweden
08 March Rally Mexico
19 April Rally Argentina
24 May Rally Portugal
14 June Rally Italy
05 July Rally Poland
02 August Rally Finland
23 August Rally Germany *
13 September Rally Australia
04 October Rally France *
25 October Rally Spain
15 November Rally Great Britain
* Subject to Promotion Agreement
