How new tech is helping the WRC solve one of its oldest issues

As the World Rally Championship safety delegate, Michele Mouton holds responsibility for overseeing the safety of every stage mile on WRC events. But, as remarkable as it seems, the behaviour of fans is no less of a concern now than it was in her heyday at the wheel, when spectators would virtually stand in the middle of the road as cars hurtled towards them at terrifying speeds.

Across social media in particular, there is a senseless celebration of the very thing that blighted the existence of Group B in the 1980s and regularly caused stage cancellations in the era of Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Carlos Sainz: lunatic fans.

Emblematic of this problem is the meme that shows an Audi Quattro airborne at Fafe on Rally Portugal with an unbroken sea of people in front of it. The next shot shows a Subaru Impreza 555 in the same position, with the crowds now standing on the verge, and the third shows a modern Hyundai i20 WRC from the same angle on the same jump with not a soul on either side.

For a voluble community of fans, the pictures are emblematic of everything that they believe is wrong with the modern WRC. To them, every inch surrendered from the path of a rally car diminishes and sanitises the sport - and boy do they like to go on about it.

Keyboard warriors are one thing, but there is still a minority who will put themselves in the firing line and then post the resulting images for 'likes' among this community.

Since last year, Mouton's quest to eradicate questionable judgement has been joined by another fan favourite, Nicolas Klinger. The hugely experienced former co-driver, who won rallies and titles alongside Nicolas Vouilloz, Thierry Neuville and Julien Maurin, is passionate about their quest to stamp out the dying embers of the bad old days.

"I'm already aware when the stage starts about where we could have some issues, so with one pass I can see if the problem is still there. If we discover something we can alert the nearest marshals" Nicolas Klinger

"At the moment, it's exactly what we are chasing: the fans," he explains.

"The normal spectators that are staying in spectator areas are OK and I think they respect the rules, but it's the big fans... Sometimes they are just the distance of a phone from the bumper of the car and it's just incredible."

For the past four years, Mouton has driven through the stage ahead of the course cars and remonstrated with anyone in a dangerous position.

All too often, however, they would sneak back after she had moved on and it was Klinger who seized upon the solution that had practically been staring them in the face: "It was after Rally Germany last year because we go through with Michele and we move a group of spectators and there was a TV guy who said, 'Let me watch them if they come back', and we shared a group contact."

Since the Monte Carlo Rally this year, Klinger has his own post within the service park with a screen showing multiple in-car feeds simultaneously.

"When Michele goes through I'm on the radio and I hear everything she is doing and her instructions back to the double-zero car behind," he says.

"I'm already aware when the stage starts about where we could have some issues, so with one pass I can see if the problem is still there. If we discover something we can alert the nearest marshals."

It isn't always fans who find their misdemeanours being captured in HD.

FIA media delegate Vera Dussausaye has begun working with Klinger to raise safety standards among the photographers who go out into the stages to make sure that they, too, are out of the firing line.

"It's amazing because we have the system in place now," she says. "All those examples of dangerous positions, we can collect them and use them in the photographers' briefings.

"By the end of the season we will have a significant amount of bad examples, and we can add comments and graphics to specifically show them the appropriate places to go."

Already, Klinger's all-seeing eye is evolving. The FIA has joined forces with tech giant Siemens to further develop the means of spotting potential issues before they occur.

Hope is at hand for genuine rally fans who just want to go out and witness the heroics on stage - those who have long despaired over the antics of the thrill-seeking minority

"There are no limits to technology," reckons Klinger. "We can track the stage on Google Maps, mark on the safe boundary, the approved spectator areas and the areas where you definitely know there could be a problem.

"The cameras can be programmed to detect anything - maybe a bumper in the road - and can identify the exact location and alert the organisers."

Hope is therefore at hand for genuine rally fans who just want to go out and witness the heroics on stage - those who have long despaired over the antics of the thrill-seeking minority.

Equally, the WRC itself can only gain if much-needed multinational sponsors can see the risks being managed and minimised in every possible way. It is of course another quantum leap from where rallying was in the 1980s - which is something for which we should ultimately be thankful.