This weekend will see the WRC debut its new points-scoring structure, ratified by the FIA, which is designed to spice up rallies and in particular the action on Sundays.
Under the new system, a sliding scale of 18-15-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 points will be awarded at the end of Saturday, but only if a crew reaches Sunday’s final classification. If a crew fails to finish on Sunday, the Saturday points will be awarded to the next best-placed pairing.
Competitors will also do battle for seven points assigned to Sunday’s leg. Points will be awarded to the top seven competitors via the following sliding scale; 7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
The prime reason for its introduction is to prevent drivers from cruising through Sunday's stages preserving tyres for the end-of-rally Power Stage, which remains unchanged with the top five fastest drivers receiving bonus points, five the maximum.
If a driver completes a perfect rally, they will continue to score 30 points as per the previous regulations, but there is now a scenario where the eventual outright rally winner could suffer a problem on Sunday and therefore leave the event with fewer points than their rivals.
The complex new points system has already sparked plenty of debate among drivers and teams. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Hyundai duo Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville all feel that the victory has been devalued under the new rules.
However, M-Sport boss Millener has welcomed the change, which he feels adds more power to the teams in terms of strategy, and could offer an advantage to his team, led by young guns Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster.
“I think it is great,” Millener told Autosport. “Nobody likes change, but I think we have to change.
“The WRC as a whole hasn’t done any changes since the introduction of Power Stage points, and they were a great change, but then we kind of went stale and stagnant for five years.
“This is a big change, but I think it has brought in a lot more strategy.
“It is probably a slight advantage for us with our line-up. We can have a strong Friday and Saturday, maybe from an advantageous road position, and then we can reassess on Saturday night and maybe we don’t need to push as hard on Sunday.
“Previously, in the past, if you were in a good position on Saturday night you could have been overtaken on the Sunday and you would be worried about that. You don’t have to worry as much because as long as you finish, you have points from the day before.
“There is more strategy from the teams because at the moment it is very much driver-related, which is great but team sports work when the whole team is involved. I think this is a really good step.
“I still feel this is a relatively easy system to understand. Yes, the overall winner of the rally might not have the same amount of points, but the driver will still be the overall winner.”
As previously reported, the FIA has stated that “the impact of the changes to the points system will be reviewed and monitored over the course of the upcoming season to allow for adjustments wherever necessary”.
While Millener is in favour of the change to the points-scoring system, he believes this is one of several changes that need to be undertaken to keep the WRC moving forward.
“It is not the only one we need to make. We need to keep developing and we need a change each year at least,” he added.
“I know the goal of the FIA and the WRC Promoter is to have a strong focus on where we are going in the future.
“Rallying has had a hard time over the last 12 months, some of it justified, some unjustified, but it is difficult to give the full reasoning to the fans because we are working to make sure we have this future and security going forward.
“I hope the points system goes to show that. I know there are some sceptics, but like I say change is a good thing.”
