The splits are gone and they should never return

Yes, oh hundred times yes, I don’t miss splits in cars at all. They could have saved Jari-Matti Latvala today, that’s for sure, but would you really take them back, knowing that Jari-Matti would have lifted and then cruised to the end of the stage, instead of pushing to the max in order to beat Sebastien Ogier? Splits had their moment and now they are gone, for good I hope. Of course I would not mind seeing Jari-Matti capitalize on Sebastien’s mistake and take the overnight lead because he deserved it with his performance today. But add splits to that and instantly it just feels wrong – there should be no lifting caused by outside information, this is not a circuit race with pitboards and radio comms, this is rallying, the crew are on their own out there, fighting against the clock and the information they have from before the stage went live. This is what rally is all about.

We hate when drivers make mistakes, but that’s what makes rallying so exciting and unpredictable. I know the time will come when I’ll wish for splits, just because some driver could benefit from them, but these are just sporadic thoughts. I am glad splits are gone, because WRC feels much more natural and challenging now. Sooner or later, this lack of splits will bite every single driver out there and they’ll have to learn how to tame their inner beasts, now their remote instructors can no longer reach them. I love that.