VW boss: WRC will stagnate in 2015

Volkswagen Motorsport director Jost Capito says the World Rally Championship has condemned itself to a year of stagnation by canceling plans for its 2015 revamp.

WRC Promoter had proposed closing up competition for the rally-deciding Powerstage by dividing the gaps between cars by 10, meaning a 10-second difference in the standings would be reduced to 1secfor the final shootout, but the plan was finally abandoned last week.

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Capito had been one of the original architects of the proposal put forward to FIA president Jean Todt for the second time and the team boss did little to conceal his disappointment when the decision went against him.

"This decision means nothing will improve," Capito told AUTOSPORT. "This was a decision to make a difference and now it has gone.

"For me it's too late now to do anything; people won't believe now that anybody wants to make any changes to the WRC.

"Within the whole community we had the feeling that, yes, these guys are serious and they want to change what needs to be changed, they want to make things happen and they want to make it good. But I feel that belief has gone now."

Capito stopped short of saying that VW would leave the WRC at the end of its current commitment in 2016, but admitted convincing the board to remain had been made considerably more difficult.

"At the end of 2015, we will look at the [television viewing] figures," he said. "We will see how they improve from 2014 and then take a decision whether to stay in the WRC or to go out at the end of 2016 based on these figures.

"But I don't see how 2015 can be any better than 2014 now; if a broadcaster has not been interested up until this point, I don't see how we can convince them now. The return on investment is not sustainable."