In this column, the 2001 world champion explains what he believes is at stake for rallying with a new WRC promoter inbound
Photography by Hyundai
Words by Robert Reid
The promoter tender that is underway, and the decisions that will follow in the next few weeks, will shape the sport for a generation. This is more than a contract renewal; it is a moment that will decide whether rallying evolves with purpose or drifts with convenience.
For half a century the WRC has been the spine of a global system. Around it sit hundreds of national championships, thousands of volunteers, and generations of fans who see in rallying something real; a contest rooted in place, shaped by weather, terrain, and courage. When the world championship is strong, national rallying grows in confidence and purpose. When it loses direction, the uncertainty travels downward, first in budgets, then in belief.
Moments like this test that belief. Rights may change hands, but stewardship is earned, not sold. Rallying has never been sustained by contracts alone. It has endured because people, organizers, drivers, service crew and fans gave more than they took. They stayed when the rain fell and the spotlight moved on. They believed in something that could not be owned.
The next promoter will inherit more than rights; they will inherit a duty of care; to the competitors whose seasons depend on clarity, to the organizers whose events rely on stability, and to the volunteers and fans who keep the sport alive. Above all, to a form of competition that has always valued authenticity over show.
Rallying’s power has always been its authenticity. It connects the human and the mechanical, the natural and the engineered. It asks people to read the road ahead and adapt in real time – the same qualities the sport now needs at a governance level. Rallying does not need reinvention. It needs renewal, systems that protect what makes it unique while adapting to how people now experience it. The stories can evolve, the platforms can modernize, but the essence; endurance, precision, and human judgment under pressure, must never be traded for short-term spectacle.
The WRC is not an isolated enterprise. It is the summit of a much larger mountain. The choices made here will affect the entire landscape below, how talent is developed, how events are financed, how national series attract sponsors and fans. When the top of the system leads with integrity and alignment, every layer beneath it strengthens.
That is why these next few weeks are so critical. This tender is not a procurement exercise; it is a declaration of values. It will reveal whether rallying chooses to be a system that endures or a show that drifts. The FIA now has a responsibility to show leadership, to ensure that the World Motor Sport Council selects the solution that best protects and grows rallying for the long term. Because the right outcome will not just entertain; it will reconnect the sport’s summit with its roots. And when the WRC gets that balance right, rallying everywhere finds its direction again.
Words:Robert Reid
Tags: Robert Reid, WRC, WRC Promoter
Publish Date October 30, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/10/vz2RuXWi-2025CHILE_AUS_2740-1-1-780x520.jpg October 30, 2025
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