– The premier class of rally sport is under new leadership: The French automobile company Cosmobilis and the private credit investor Park Square Capital have taken over WRC Promoter GmbH – a move that the FIA, the world governing body for motorsport, has called the “biggest deal in the history of these championships.”
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During the Rally Paraguay, the new CEO of the WRC promoter, Eric Boullier, gave an insight into the future of the championship. He revealed plans to take the World Rally Championship (WRC) and the European Rally Championship (ERC) to the next level by improving fan access, media coverage, and the commercial appeal of the racing series.
The former McLaren Formula 1 team principal hinted at plans for future event formats but made clear in an interview with our global sister site Motorsport.com that there are no plans to drastically shorten rallies in the near future.
Small but important steps planned
Boullier emphasized, however, that a “Super Sunday” with only one special stage run twice – as has already been held in Estonia and Finland – is a concept they want to pursue further to make the WRC attractive to a new audience.
There is also a plan to grant fans free entry to events where possible. Currently, most WRC rounds span four days, while this year the Rally Estonia tested a three-day 48-hour format.
“I am a motorsport fan, but I am not used to rallies. One of the concepts in rally sport is that you run many special stages each day. When you do that, it is impossible to broadcast properly or convey the emotions of the race,” Boullier explained.
Highlighting the uniqueness of rallies
“Finland and Estonia run one stage on Sunday [in two passes], which is much easier to manage. If I want to deploy buses to bring non-hardcore fans there so they can see the cars, that is also much easier. Suddenly, you can interact with the fans in a completely different way.”
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When asked directly whether there are plans to shorten rallies, Boullier added: “No [rallies will not be shorter]. But we have to consider the calendar. We have to consider the costs. And we have to consider sustainability.”
“As we all know, we have worked on it, and this year we implemented it [the 48-hour format] at Rally Estonia with a three-day rally. That worked very well, and in fact, the teams were happy because they saved time and money. I am not sure if we can apply that to every rally because every rally is unique. That is what makes the uniqueness of the WRC.”
When will the 2027 calendar be released?
“We go to Kenya, we go to snow in Sweden. We have gravel, we have asphalt, we have high speed in Finland, and we have slow pace in Japan. We want to maintain this uniqueness. But some rallies will last four days, some rallies three days.”
It is hoped that the WRC will finalize its calendar for the 2027 season within the next two months. The schedule is expected to include three new events after Scotland, the USA, and Rome held candidate events this year.
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The future of the Safari Rally Kenya remains uncertain, although reports from Kenya say there is a deadline until September 15 to secure the necessary funding to remain on the calendar.
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