Jonty's Box
By TMX Archives on 16th May 06
Three years after sweeping changes were introduced to make the WEC an easier sport for spectators to understand, has the shake-up made any difference to the series' popularity?
There comes a time when things need a changin'. Just like the set-up of your bike's suspension, your pre-season training routine or the film in your roll-off system - at some point in time world championship series need changing too. And at the start of '04 the World Enduro Championship was no exception.
In the case of the WEC, changes - or improvements as them what was making them preferred to call them - were made for several key reasons. Firstly, to modernise the series. Secondly, to give the championship a much needed professional identity. Thirdly, to make the sport easier for the general public to understand. Oh, and a little further down the 'things to do' list came improving facilities and the events themselves for those actually competing in them.
After many years of neglect the WEC was long overdue a facelift which was something that the FIM was all too aware of. Basically, the championship needed to smarten up its act or risk forever being known as the poor relation of the off-road motorcycling world.
Those changes took place in '04 after the sport's governing body awarded former European Supermoto Championship promoter Alain Blanchard and his company ABC Communications a three-year contract to manage the WEC's commercial rights. Having been little more than a collection of events joined only by the fact that they came together under the WEC umbrella up until that point, many viewed the appointment of a series promoter as unnecessary and with scepticism. Having done just fine - thank you very much - from '90 until '03 why, many asked, did the WEC need to be changed?
Changes came in the form of a radical class reshuffle - no longer would two-strokes and four-strokes compete separately. So as of the first round of the '04 championship the Enduro 1, Enduro 2 and Enduro 3 class format was introduced. At the same time 'hobby riders' that made up the majority of those competing in WEC events were basically told that they were no longer welcome in the WEC.
With the FIM and ABC Communications wanting the WEC to be a 'professionals only' championship the riders that had for so long been the backbone of the championship were suddenly made to feel like second class citizens, banished firstly to 'B' paddocks and then politely, and indirectly, told to **** off and compete in the European Enduro Championship. Having made events financially viable for clubs since the start of the WEC in '90 the great unwashed were suddenly the great unwanted.
As well as re-structuring the classes and wanting to cap the number of riders competing in events, getting the WEC on TV was a must. Days were made shorter, podium celebrations and press conferences were introduced and extreme special tests became mandatory. The new look WEC was going to boost the series popularity with the general public and TV audiences all over the world.
So after nearly three years in charge of the WEC have the changes introduced by the FIM and Alain Blanchard made the world championship a better place? Well, yes and no. Despite a claimed - and massively optimistic - 200,000 spectators having come out to watch last year's nine-round championship the harsh reality is that there are no more spectators standing in fields or forests across Europe now than there were three, five or, I would imagine, 10 years ago. And there are a couple of reasons why this is the case.
The simplifying of the WEC didn't really go far enough. Five classes reduced to three, which has been increased back to four now that hobby riders have been welcomed back under the guise of the Enduro Junior class, hardly makes 'the motorcycling equivalent of car rallying' any easier for Xavier Johansson to understand now does it?
One class - in which all the best enduro riders in the world could compete head-to-head against each other - might just do that. Salminen versus Knight versus Aro versus Cervantes versus Merriman on any size of bike they chose would not only be simpler but much, much more exciting.
But the main reason why the WEC hasn't seen an explosion in popularity with spectators is because enduros - like countless other niche sports - only really appeal to those that already have a genuine interest in the sport. Only those with a serious understanding and passion for enduro will travel up a mountain to catch a fleeting glimpse of their favourite rider as he blasts past once every two hours.
While motocross can offer a structured, easy to understand, action-packed day's entertainment, enduro can't. It never did and it never will do. Enduro above everything else is a sport for those competing in it and not one that will ever really interest the casual observer. Needing to be prepared to get up early, brave all weathers, stand in often muddy fields or dusty forests and continuously get in and out of your car as you follow the action, no matter what is done to change the sport of enduro I feel it will never appeal to Joe Public.
But no real increase in the number of spectators coming out to watch WEC events isn't necessarily a bad thing for the championship. During the past three years world championship events have - after some fraught moments between riders and Blanchard - become, on the whole, better.
With fewer problems with the courses and the majority of special tests - thanks to the introduction of former world champion Giovanni Sala as the official course inspector - the WEC is generally a better championship than it was three years ago. While changing the sport in the hope of attracting more spectators hasn't really worked it has made the series better for those competing in it. Which was pretty much all the series needed in the first place...
Words and photo by Jonty Edmunds