What a revival of the World Rally Championship could look like

Bringing the World Rally Championship back to where it belongs. That was the core message as ex-Formula 1 team boss-turned-WRC Promoter CEO Eric Boullier outlined the vision to reinvigorate rallying’s top tier in front of the media at Rally Paraguay at the end of August. 

After many months of discussions, French automotive company Cosmobilis and private credit investor Park Square Capital have acquired WRC Promoter GmbH. It is a deal that could prove to be one of the most significant turning points for the WRC in its bid to recapture past glory. The championship’s new custodians have promised significant investment, with a firm focus on attracting more manufacturers, improving the WRC’s global visibility and enhancing fan experience, while keeping rallying’s traditions.  

“There is one thing I would like to emphasise first,” says Boullier. “We will never ever change the DNA of rally. Rallying obviously is the most spectacular sport, but nobody talks about it anymore. And that’s the issue today. We want to bring back the WRC and European Rally Championship to where they belong.”

It’s a bold statement and one that will take time and a significant undertaking. But that is now the task awaiting Cosmobilis’s team headed by Boullier and flanked by the WRC’s new chief operating officer, Julien Vial – a WRC veteran who previously served as part of Thierry Neuville’s gravel crew at Hyundai. 

Best known for his background in circuit racing, in particular as former Lotus and McLaren F1 boss, Boullier immediately recognised that the WRC is a sleeping giant with huge potential. 

“I’m not a rally man, but there are a few things which struck me first,” he explains. “The hardcore fan base is unbelievable. But if you are not in the algorithm on your social media, you never see WRC. So we have to step up here first. 

“I think in terms of popularity itself, WRC can explode tomorrow and go through the sky, but we have to stick to the DNA of rally.” 

While Hyundai, Toyota and Ford (via M-Sport) are current WRC mainstays, the aim is for a minimum of five manufacturers

Photo by: Matt Jelonek / McKlein

What is expected from this new WRC era?  

Cosmobilis has bought into the WRC during a transitional phase as rallying waves goodbye to the million-euro Rally1 monsters in favour of a more affordable WRC27 formula featuring cost-capped €345,000 cars that are set to deliver similar performance to the current Rally2 machines. 

As it stands, the take-up for these new rules has been slow – Toyota is the only mainstream manufacturer developing a WRC27 car, alongside tuner operations Project Rally One and RMC Motorsport. But attracting marques has been difficult for a while, with Toyota, Hyundai and Ford via M-Sport representing the top tier since 2020.

Now, armed with a plan to improve the championship’s appeal, and with the FIA planning to open up the powertrain rules from 2029, Boullier is convinced that the WRC will become a championship that car makers will find difficult to ignore.  

“We will never make everybody happy, but we have addressed their [the manufacturers’] concerns,” he states. “They want a stable platform, so we have a 10-year commitment [on technical regulations] with the FIA. They want the cost to be addressed. I believe, with the new formula and if you include everything, we have divided by at least two the budget compared with now.  

“If Hyundai wants a hybrid, fine; Toyota wants to keep the 1.6-litre turbo, fine. Maybe one day a Chinese car manufacturer wants to come and be electric, fine” Eric Boullier 

“The manufacturers want to be able to show off their technology. We have addressed this technically [from 2029], and that’s why if we can bring WRC back to where it belongs in terms of popularity, the platform will be super-attractive; 2027 and 2028 will be challenging, but 2029 will definitely be the way forward. 

“Balance of Performance, we don’t want this because it’s too conflicting to manage. But what they do in Dakar is great – with the torque meter [which equalises cars of differing powertrains] you can have whatever you want. If Hyundai wants a hybrid, fine; Toyota wants to keep the 1.6-litre turbo, fine. Maybe one day a Chinese car manufacturer wants to come and be electric, fine.” 

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem adds: “I am confident because accessibility comes from affordability. Before, it was God knows how much [to compete], but now if you do a three-car team, it’s from €25-28million. That’s affordable. 

“We need a minimum of five [manufacturers] there to sustain the business, and I feel it is doable.” 

The importance of retaining rallying’s core values was stressed during the Paraguay press conference

Expect changes to improve fan experience

While addressing manufacturers’ concerns is key to increasing future involvement, the WRC’s new owners have also outlined plans to improve the championship’s appeal and ability to capture a new audience.  

Boullier’s wish is to make WRC events as accessible as possible, with rallies to largely remain free to attend for spectators. There are also plans to reshape the service park into an arena concept, with teams operating around the outside of a central fan venue. This will also include new hospitality facilities for sponsors and guests. 

“It has to be free access, and it will be free access wherever fans want to go,” explains Boullier. “We are going to reshape the service park into what will be known as the WRC Arena. I need a hospitality [facility] to bring in VIPs. The teams need them for the sponsors, I need it for my sponsors. Today we have nothing.” 

Purists may fear that drastic changes to event formats could be on the horizon, but Boullier says rallies will continue to operate across either three or four-day formats. The one-stage-repeated Super Sunday itinerary, recently used in Estonia and Finland, has already been identified as a system to introduce rallying to a new audience in a simpler way.  

“One of the concepts of rallying is we have many stages every day,” adds Boullier. “If you do that, it’s impossible to broadcast properly or get the emotions out of the racing. Finland and Estonia are doing one stage on Sunday [repeated], which is much easier to manage. If I want to use buses to bring the non-hardcore fans to see the cars, it’s much easier as well. So then suddenly you can interact with your fans in a different manner.

“No [rallies won’t be shorter], but we have to consider the calendar. We have to consider the costs. We have to consider the sustainability.

“As we all know, we have worked on this, and this year we did it [a 48-hour format] with Estonia on a three-day rally. It worked very well and actually, the teams were happy because they saved time and money. I’m not sure we can apply this to every rally because every rally is unique. This is the uniqueness of WRC. We go to Kenya, we go to Sweden on snow. We have gravel, we have Tarmac, we have high speed in Finland and we have slow speed in Japan. We want to keep this uniqueness. But some rallies will be four days, some rallies three days.”

Maintaining the unique nature of the championship – such as competing on snow in Sweden – is integral to the plans

Photo by: Hyundai

FIA to inject funds back into the WRC  

While Cosmobilis is making a significant investment into the WRC, so will the FIA. Ben Sulayem revealed last year at Rally Paraguay that the sale of the WRC commercial rights would generate extra investment from the world governing body. This will be achieved by the creation of the FIA Growth Fund, which will support projects that drive the success and development of rallying worldwide. 

While the exact details of where this funding will be allocated are yet to be defined, Ben Sulayem admitted that projects such as FIA Rally Star, which ran across 2023-25 and unearthed current WRC2 aces Romet Jurgenson and Taylor Gill, could return. 

“It won’t be just going and giving people the money,” says Ben Sulayem. “It’s about encouraging young drivers to enter rallying and encouraging them. You will get notified of it because we are in the process now of where the fund would go. Yes [FIA Rally Star could return], but you will see a new version because we need new stars. It was good, but it needs an improved version of it.”

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the October 2026 issue and subscribe today.

Traditional service park is set to be reshaped into a more fan- and sponsor-friendly ‘WRC Arena’

Photo by: Matt Jelonek / McKlein