The World Rally Championship will introduce virtual chicanes to competition for the first time at Rally Finland, in a move that helped reintroduce the legendary Ouninpohja special stage.
Advances in technology have seen virtual chicanes become increasingly popular in rallying, with the system already being used in various championships, including the European Rally Championship at Rally Rome.
The concept will move to the WRC this weekend after a shakedown test of the system at Rally Latvia earlier this month.
A virtual chicane allows cars to slow down for a challenging section without requiring organisers to put up a physical obstacle for drivers to negotiate. Instead of using heavy hay bales to mark out a chicane, organisers can now designate pre-determined areas where drivers are required to slow to 60 km/h.
Virtual chicanes will be used once again during the shakedown in Finland and will feature on the Ouninpohja stage, which will be run twice as Stage 13 and Stage 16 on Saturday. The Ouninpohja stage returns for the first time since 2016 and is run in the legendary 33km “long” format, but in reverse this year.
The stage is among the most famous in WRC history, known for its high-speed jumps and challenging hairpin bends, and its return can be attributed to the introduction of virtual chicanes.
“Definitely, and it was nice that the organizers asked about this [il ritorno di Ouninpohja],” Nicolas Kinger, FIA rally safety delegate, told Autosport/Motorsport.com. “They wanted to Ouninpohja and race again, but for sure we know it’s very fast. It’s not about fast straights, it’s about [chicane virtuali] to avoid entering a dangerous curve that is fast to lower the risk a little.”
Why are virtual chicanes introduced?
Virtual Chicane
Photo by: WRC.com
As Klinger explained, one of the reasons virtual chicanes were introduced was safety. The concept slows cars before a challenging stretch of road and does so in a way that further reduces risk without physical objects that could cause collisions and damage to vehicles.
However, advances in technology that allow event organisers to adopt this system, combined with the difficulty of sourcing hay bales to designate chicanes, have contributed to the rise of virtual chicanes in rallies around the world.
“In some countries you can’t get straw bales and it’s become increasingly difficult to get them. Straw bales weigh 400kg and you have to move them, and sometimes the roads can be very narrow, so you can’t do the chicane just because of the width of the road,” Klinger added.
“So that’s one of the reasons and I have to say that technology has changed and now we can do virtual chicanes. It’s something that’s done in Australia, in the Netherlands, in Germany and also in Italy, so it’s not new. It’s just using technology that didn’t exist before.”
“For sure [la sicurezza è un fattore] because in the future it will help us and allow us to do other things and go to other stages where we are not allowed to go”.
“There is also a sporty aspect, as everyone slows down to the same speed. [per la chicane virtuale]so there’s not someone coming along and pushing the bales of straw and then the car following can go 20 km/h faster and take advantage of that.”
“In Latvia it was not a test for us. We know it works, it has been tested and in other countries it was more for the pilots.”
How do virtual chicanes work?
Virtual Chicane
Photo by: WRC.com
Rally crews will see virtual chicane countdown signs throughout the stage, with the stage side markers dropping from 300 meters to 100 meters before the start of the virtual chicane zone. These warnings will also appear on the detection box located in the car’s cockpit, the device that also flashes the red flag warning during the stages.
The car must slow down to a maximum of 60 km/h in the 200 meter zone before the virtual chicane. The tracking box will show a green light when the correct speed is reached. Once this speed is reached, the vehicle can accelerate again.
Failure to decelerate to 60 km/h will result in a penalty of two seconds for each km/h over the limit and will be added to the overall time of the stage.
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