I think that the wrong thing about this rule is that whoever cleans the road on Friday, he cleans it for the whole day. Ogier would be ok if he cleaned the stages but only on the first loop of Friday & not the whole Friday.
Tbh on some level its fair as it gives 2nd and 3rd the chance to gain on the leader so its basically mixing up the championship which is good for the fans and the promotor
Kalle or Elfyn, like Hyundai is in such shambless, maybe only if Ott or Thierry can get quickly up to speed with a new car, only then theyre a realistic championship threat, I really hope Ford is as good as theyre always have been with new rules so Craigas hes my favourite driver rn can fight for something and maybe even Adrien to fight for his first podium somewhere.
But the qualifying stage itself has a starting order too, that handicaps the first one driving on it. So I don't see how that's gonna make rallying more fair.
I dont think you can ever have a “fair” way of doing it. Ogier has always moaned but never had a constructive idea. Also this is only a issue for the first loop of stages so isn’t that big of a deal. It just doesnt make sense to make the slower guys start first on the road. It evens up the rallies which is good for everyone watching.
It isn't only issue for the first loop because if you slow in the first loop, you will be at the back of the pack, so on the next day you again will clean the roads for the others and you have very slim chances to gain time on anyone. This is why gravel rallies usually decided on the first day already. You can easily have more fair system. Either run the Rally2 cars before the WRCs or the championship should revert back the the 2000s system, where the first day the championship leader 1st on the road, and on the other days the road order is based on the actual rally standing. It isn't completely fair either but still better than the current one. Alternatively you can change the road order not only from day to day but from loop to loop so noone gets a whole day of advantageous or disadvantageous position. Or you can have a qualy stage which is still much more fair than the current system.
A fair way in my opinion would be to completely randomize the order for every day, and for every stage. This way, its not really biased for or against anyone, as its completely random. You could be starting first, or dead last, or anywhere in between doesn't matter how fast you are.
