The World Rally Championship's new commercial rights holder will be confirmed within “three weeks,” according to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who used a media roundtable at the Le Mans 24 Hours to set a firm deadline on a process that has dragged on for the best part of two years.
The future promotion of the WRC has been an open question since it emerged in 2024 that the existing commercial rights holder, WRC Promoter — owned by Red Bull and German investment company KW25 — was preparing for a sale. The FIA opened a tender last year to find a successor, and the process is understood to be in its final stages, with French automotive company Cosmobilis, led by former Lotus and McLaren Formula 1 team principal Eric Boullier, reported as the leading candidate.
“In the coming days, I will finalise matters related to one of the disciplines closest to my heart: rallying,” Ben Sulayem said. “WRC's new commercial rights holder will be cleared within three weeks. I am saying it and you are writing it, and if I don't do it then I am the one at fault. You will hear the good news in two weeks, three weeks maximum. We cannot wait anymore.”
The urgency is tied to the championship's 2027 future. The wait for a promoter is understood to be holding up the finalisation of the 2027 sporting regulations, and manufacturers are weighing the new owner's vision before committing to the incoming technical rules. Ben Sulayem framed the new package as a reset on cost, arguing it should widen the grid.
“The [new 2027] cars have been brought back to 350,000 euros,” he said. “It is lighter and with sustainable fuel, and this will bring with the new promoter a whole package to run a car, and it will not anymore be 70-plus million to run three cars. It will be approximately, let's say from 25 to 30 million, which means it will be attractive to many other manufacturers.” The FIA president added that he would like to see the championship accommodate a “minimum of five” manufacturers.
For now, the manufacturer picture remains thin. Toyota is the only brand confirmed to build a car for 2027, with independent constructors also working on machinery to the new rules. Hyundai, a WRC fixture since 2014, is still deciding whether to continue at all, and will not build a new Rally1 car for 2027 given the timescale, although a Rally2 program remains possible.
“I think every option is still on the table at the moment,” Hyundai's WRC sporting director Andrew Wheatley told DirtFish when asked about a privateer Rally2 route to keep the manufacturer involved.
Ben Sulayem has previously said a fresh commercial rights contract between the FIA and the new promoter could run for as long as 25 years, with proceeds from the sale reinvested directly into the championship — a structure he argues is necessary to give an incoming owner the runway to grow the sport.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports](https://motorsports.global/article/ben-sulayem-vows-new-wrc-promoter-within-three-weeks). Visit for full coverage.*