Problems on the Monte - for those able to watch

My father would have called it a disgrace. My grandfather would have used a different word. He'd have said: "It stinks." Both would have been entirely indignant if only partially in possession of the facts.

The first round of the World Rally Championship was always at the centre of a long discussion between my father and I. He would want to know everything: who's in what, what's changed and how did Petter get on. Like most rally fans, dad had a big interest in the Solberg side of things.

And he would offer plenty of opinion too - always based on the television coverage he'd seen. As a life-long competitor-turned fan, he would hoover up any hint of a rally car on telly.

Hence the disgrace.

British viewers were deprived of any TV coverage of Monte Carlo... © XPB

My grandfather had no interest in rallying at all. Anybody who watched him taking the 'in-off' approach to getting his sky blue Ford Escort Mk III through the narrow gates and up to the house would see, driving in any form didn't really come naturally to him...

But he did love a bit of political intrigue. And he loved to cast down sweeping, considered and condemning judgement on those he thought to be in the wrong and/or not doing their jobs properly.

Hence the stink.

The good news is that viewers from Andorra to the Ukraine via Bhutan, Mongolia and Taiwan got to watch Sebastien Loeb's seventh Monte Carlo Rally success last week.

But viewers in Britain didn't.

And that was a complete disgrace.

No coverage for a country that has been home to three world-title winning manufacturers, two world-title winning drivers and a bigger and more active competitor base than most rallying nations in the western world.

Suddenly, the Motors TV coverage that had been moaned about - entirely unfairly in my view - last season looked particularly attractive. And, like you, I still kept hacking my way around the various television listings pages to try and find something. Anything. Surely there would be something. Nothing.

Understandably, and fortunately from our perspective, the manufacturers are troubled by the lack of telly north of the white cliffs. Coverage in Germany is looking stronger than it's ever been and France is catching up and catching on.

...even if other countries enjoyed access to the coverage © XPB

But for us, our only done deal is with Welsh channel S4C. Trouble is, S4C's brilliant Ralio show, with its winning team of Howard Davies, Lowri Morgan and Emyr Penlan, doesn't come back to our screens until later in the year.

So, until then, silence.

Or maybe not.

For the first time, I met with the two chaps charged with promoting the World Rally Championship in Monaco last week. And I was encouraged by what I heard. And equally encouraged by what I didn't hear.

As had been reported, these boys are new to our game, but they've been around, and at the top of their own for a while. And now they're taking their solid, sensible and grounded principles of promotion and applying them slowly to our sport. Don't expect any kind of immediate revolution, but that's part of the plan.

What they're not going to do is make promises, false or otherwise. Having been granted an audience, I had hoped for some headlines. I was disappointed. And encouraged. Love it or loathe it, the previous regime was full of chat; rarely did I end a telephone call with Simon Long without landing a news story. Unfortunately, a misguided Russian put paid to the loquacious Long.

In his place we have a couple of cautious Germans, who are looking long, long-term at the development of the calendar, the commercial side of the sport and new media.

But, it's old media, it's the telly that we want to know about. Will we be able to watch Sweden is the only question we want answering right now. And they won't answer that question. They are, however, well aware of the issue and they are working hard on it.

Like I said, the manufacturers are troubled by the inability of Brit fans to watch the Monte and have called on the promoter to hand out the coverage for free. As you'd expect, the pictures from the Monte were breathtaking and they will be just as good as the season progresses.

Surely, and I might be biased here, broadcasters would be falling over themselves to take this sort action, gratis. The promoter assured me there was no economic argument between the stations he was talking to.

Let's see what gives. Landing a deal would be a popular and significant early shot in the arm for what the promoter recognises is a key market for the WRC.

And a shot in the arm would balance what was appeared to be a terrible shot in the foot for the timing and tracking on last week's Monte Carlo Rally.

In many ways, it was a good thing that there was no television coverage - you simply wouldn't have believed the farcical situation the teams, drivers and organisers were left in by new supplier SIT Sports.

From start to finish, there were glitches of varying severity. Actually, that's not true, the glitches continued well beyond the finish, with the classification liable to change at any point. Some of the time we didn't know who was leading the rally, all of the time the splits were not really to be trusted.

A couple of people offered the "first rally" defence for SIT Sports, but I'm afraid that just won't wash. When the FIA introduced us to this new company, we were assured they came with 20 years' experience. They were, we were told, the timing company of the future. From what we saw on round one, reporting the present is proving challenging enough...

Timing screens had Bryan Bouffier leading at one stage © XPB

The disbelief at the lack of times turned to serious concern when tracking went south as well. Team members up and down the service park were calling for heads to roll.

So I went to talk to SIT Sports, to see which particular heads might roll. Having reported a troubled start for the Madrid team, I wasn't given the warmest of welcomes. But I was given assurances that a) much of what had gone on wasn't their fault; b) things would undoubtedly get better in Sweden; c) they were already doing a better job than their predecessor.

That final point made me smile. And it made those who I shared it with laugh out loud. Stage One Technology's kit might have been showing its age, but at least we knew who was leading the rally and where each and every one of the cars were at any given point during the event.

Fortunately for the boys from Stage One, the lack of television precluded them from watching the nightmare unfold.

There were those who talked, in defence of the FIA's decision, of short memories and the occasional failings of Stage One. Well, I went around all the manufacturers and a large number of the privateers and could find no complaints with the service that had been. So, sorry, that one won't wash either.

Granted, the Monte is not an easy one to time or track. It's in the mountains and the weather was particularly tough. But, surely, in it's 20 years' experience SIT Sports had seen snow and been in the hills before?

You wouldn't have thought so. Jost Capito, Volkswagen's motorsport director, put it into perspective; Capito simply doesn't care how long SIT Sports have been around, all he cares about is the service being delivered to a world-class level.

VW motorsport boss Jost Capito was a critic of the new timing system © XPB

Like SIT, VW brought a new product to the series this season, but the Polo R WRC was the polar opposite to the timing and tracking in terms of immediate success.

This, as Jost rightly pointed out, is a world championship and should be serviced as such. Would this happen in Formula 1? Er, no. After the combined promises of the FIA and SIT, the timing and tracking shouldn't have been as good as Stage One. It should have been better. SIT should have hit the ground running in France last week; at least part of that last sentence is right.

Our sport is built on timing and last week showed how any kind of failing in that direction seriously weakens the foundations. Last week, the house of rally rocked. And not in a good way.

I have to say, I also felt very sorry for the Automobile Club de Monaco - which is not something you hear everyday. For the second year in succession, the Monte organisers were forced into a second-rate situation.

Last year, the Russian debacle meant a Stage One deal couldn't kick in until round two and this year, the Monegasques have born the brunt of change.

The single question which the drivers and co-driver continually asked throughout the rally was why the change? Julien Ingrassia pondered why the FIA was seeking to fix something he felt was patently not broken.

I've been assured everything's in hand - and I certainly hope so for the sake of the sport I love and earn my living in.

But Ingrassia's got a point...

The FIA points to the significant technological advances SIT is bringing with it this year, those on the inside talks of costs being cut.

Does that stink? You decide. But I know what my grandfather would have said.