Drivers and team bosses competing in the World Rally Championship have demanded three major changes to the sport after a new promoter took over this summer. The top FIA rally series is now under new management, with WRC Promoter purchased by Cosmobilis and Park Square Capital ahead of Rally Finland.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem called the agreement “truly the deal of the century”, with the new deal expected to help boost the profile of rallying. A new vision for the series is expected to be revealed at Rally Paraguay later this August, but drivers have already had their say, calling for a series of major updates.
Boost the show for fans
The one change at the top of the agenda in Rally Finland was a genuine desire to improve the show for fans attending rally meetings. Better access for spectators at the service park and improving hospitality trackside were ideas raised in the paddock in Finland, and could be a simple way for the new promoters to win over die-hard fans.
Speaking to Express Sport, Jon Armstrong said: “I feel like there needs to be more events related to the fans. Just trying to make people closer to the sport.”
Toyota team principal and former multiple WRC event winner Jari-Matti Latvala agreed, arguing that service parks needed to be the focus of any tweaks. He told Express Sport: “The service park needs to be given more attraction for people to come and see the cars. People need to get closer to the cars. What we have done for me [that was wrong] is started to build too many barriers and fences. People are too far away and that’s taking maybe a little bit away from the fans.”
Josh Mcerlean told us: “I think the whole hospitality side of it, especially service parks and bringing the fans closer to the sport. I think there are different ways of doing that. The hospitality in service parks and creating a real festival atmosphere is something that can probably be looked at.”
Promote the personalities
Formula One enjoyed a massive surge in interest after the launch of Netflix’s Drive to Survive. WRC tried to copy the format, with two series of the ‘More than Machine’ documentary series already airing. Despite this, there is a call for WRC to better promote its own stars, boosting the profile of the drivers and getting fans invested in their journey week in and week out.
Jon Armstrong told Express Sport: “F1 is so popular now because of the drivers and that’s something we need to do for rallying. What we do is crazy but if we promote the personalities of us better, I think we will gain more fans.”
Change the TV production
For a motorsport series often taking place well over 200 miles across four action-packed days, television coverage is vital. Years ago, production was limited to a post-event highlights show, but this changed in 2019 at the launch of WRC’s all-live service. Fans can now watch every second of every stage from Thursday evening’s opener to Sunday afternoon’s Power Stage.
The WRC attracted a global TV audience of 504 million between January and mid-June 2026, with cumulative live TV broadcasts up 29% year on year. However, M Sport’s Richard Millener believes even more could be done to bring the sport to life for those watching at home, with new camera angles at the top of his wishlist.
Speaking to Express Sport, he explained: “For me, the easy wins are the main thing to go with, we need to improve the cameras, we need to improve the visuals. When you sit in one of these cars the experience inside is so different to what we see on the cameras we have now. There’s a trade-off between having a steady camera to see the picture, but we need some more dynamic stuff, some more interesting ways to do it. We need to concentrate on the sound and putting maximum resources into the production. If you make it look amazing, the fans will come.”
