WRC still keen on winter rallies

The World Rally Championship will persist with winter rallies, and look to add more, despite last week's dramas in Sweden.

The second round of the 2016 season was in severe doubt last week, when unseasonably warm weather and a lack of snow sparked safety concerns. A shortened rally was ultimately run, and WRC Promoter announced a new deal taking the event through to 2019.

The rally is currently based in Karlstad, to the west of Stockholm, with a number of stages run at higher altitude in neighbouring Norway.

World champion Sebastien Ogier reckons "the time has come to go north" but WRC Promoter's Oliver Ciesla told Motorsport News: "It's too early to talk about that. We need to have a dialogue with the FIA and the promoter on how we handle the future, we still have big demands for a snow-safe event and we have big financial demands.

"We are not happy with the weather lottery, but we are happy with all the rest. The championship loves a winter rally and it loves Norway and Sweden.

"From the promoters' point of view, this rally has a good market, great media and television and a strong commercial side."

Far from shying away from winter rallies, the WRC could add another to its calendar.

"I am looking at other possibilities to run as a second winter rally, including possibilities in Canada, Russia and Japan," Ciesla added.

Ogier added: "Sweden has a big history in rallying, it's an iconic event, but we want the place where we have the best condition," he said. "Unfortunately with global warming it's getting more difficult – we see this every year."

Originally on Autosport.com