FIA presidential candidate Tim Mayer says rallying would be a bigger priority than now under his regime
Photography by Toyota
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
FIA presidential candidate Tim Mayer says his administration would provide more support for rallying around the world – and consider a shift back to production-based cars in the future.
Former F1 steward Mayer announced his ‘FIA Forward’ campaign in July and will formally reveal his full team to run against sitting FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on October 24.
Talking to DirtFish about the challenges facing rallying right now, Mayer said he could see a strong future for the sport – with member clubs globally favoring rallying over Formula 1.
“I’ve been going around the world, talking to the member clubs,” he said. “And in places like Africa, for instance, in places like South America, rally is fundamentally the sport. So, you know, they’re not building Formula 1 circuits, they’re looking at how do we do rally?
“From the FIA’s perspective, we need to strengthen the rally department. It’s a very small department within the FIA and I think it needs to be a much bigger part of the FIA’s portfolio. Why? Because fundamentally, this is part of what is needed in Africa. It’s what’s needed in Asia. It’s what’s needed in Latin America. This is an area where we can grow our ASN and our member clubs by engaging them into the rally department, which is, again, right now, too small. So that’s an area that I really think we need to see growth.
“For me, the real job of the FIA is to support our member clubs. And that means supporting rallying. That means really looking forward at what we can do for rally over the next 10, 20 years. That means planning. It means looking forward and thinking about what do we do for powertrains, what do we do for the construction of the cars.”
Mayer added that he would look to further the relationship between the FIA and the promoter of the World Rally Championship in an effort to further boost the series’ and sport’s profile.
“I think the critical thing is for us to be working with the promoter instead of against the promoter,” he said. “This is a critical area because, at the end of the day, that value equation we’re talking about is all about the relationship between the sport, the entertainment, and the business side of WRC.
“We need to bear in mind that this is all about the fans, this is fan engagement. How do we do that? How do we, as the FIA, help our promoters and our local championship organizers? For me, that’s the business part. That’s the first step, to engage in that cooperative conversation.
“There are a number of technical things – and on that side, I’ll admit I am not a rally expert – but engaging with the right people and making sure that we have that conversation about what are the right technical regulations that need to be changed as we go along, that’s something that really needs to happen.”
Words:David Evans
Publish Date October 13, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/10/LQgsPLhT-PAJARI09FIN25mr202-780x520.jpg October 13, 2025
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