FIA Growth Fund: WRC Commercial Rights Money Goes Back to Rallying
The path to the top of the WRC is expensive, and young crews often spend years chasing budgets just to take the next step. Now the FIA is promising a new wave of investment across the sport - from the world championship level all the way down to grassroots rallying, where future stars get their first taste of competition. The centerpiece of the plan is the FIA Growth Fund, and a revival of FIA Rally Star is also on the table. Here is what the FIA has outlined and where the money is supposed to come from.
What is FIA's reinvestment plan for rallying?
The FIA says new revenue generated through the WRC and ERC commercial rights agreement will be channeled back into rallying. The commitment covers both the top tier - the world and European championships - and the development side of the sport at the most basic levels.
The new chapter opened after French group Cosmobilis, together with private credit investor Park Square Capital, acquired WRC Promoter GmbH. The new promoter owners simultaneously signed a long-term commercial rights deal with the FIA covering both WRC and ERC.
The FIA has described the agreement as the biggest commercial deal in the history of either championship. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem went further, calling it the "deal of the century" for rallying. The federation says one direct result will be an unprecedented level of investment in the growth of the discipline.
Ben Sulayem had already flagged the intention to reinvest commercial rights income into rallying before the deal was finalized. With the new agreement signed, the FIA is now beginning to spell out what that actually looks like in practice.
Where does the money come from?
The foundation of the new model is the long-term commercial agreement between the FIA and the new owner of WRC Promoter GmbH. The specific financial terms and total value of the contract have not been disclosed, but the FIA says the deal creates significantly more capacity to invest in WRC, ERC, and lower-level rally development than existed before.
Ben Sulayem was openly critical of some of the FIA's earlier commercial arrangements when announcing the new plans. He pointed to the federation's previous relationship with Formula 1 as an example, arguing that the FIA received too little given the role it plays in that championship.
At the same time, the FIA president is clear that the rallying strategy is about more than just cash. He argues that close collaboration between the FIA, the promoter, the teams, drivers, event organizers, fans, and media is just as critical as the financial element - the goal is to grow the entire championship together, not simply distribute funds.
The new deal is designed to both increase the resources available to the sport and create a more direct pipeline for reinvesting that money back into rallying at every level.
What is the FIA Growth Fund?
The FIA Growth Fund is one of the concrete pieces of the new strategy. Its scope goes beyond simply bankrolling individual young drivers - the fund is intended to support projects that develop rallying worldwide, from the top of the sport down to grassroots initiatives.
Expanding access for young drivers and crews is a key focus, but Ben Sulayem made clear that the mechanism is not meant to hand out checks to individual competitors. The FIA's approach is to fund structures and programs that give more drivers a realistic route into competition and a pathway to climb through the categories.
The FIA president draws a distinction between two types of investment: direct support for the championships themselves, and development projects aimed at building the broader rally ecosystem. Exactly how much money goes where, and how those decisions are made, has not yet been specified.
The FIA says detailed rules and criteria for the Growth Fund will be published once the selection of projects and target areas has been finalized.
Could FIA Rally Star come back?
One of the more intriguing programs that could be revived under the new strategy is FIA Rally Star. The program launched in 2021 with the goal of identifying and developing a driver capable of competing at the highest WRC level.
Asked directly about a return, Mohammed Ben Sulayem confirmed that the FIA is considering it. That said, the idea is not simply to restart the program in its original form. The FIA president believes Rally Star was successful, but says any future version should be modified and improved before it comes back.
There is no official decision to revive FIA Rally Star yet, and no timeline has been set. It remains one of several initiatives the FIA is evaluating in the context of the new rallying funding model.
How did the first edition of FIA Rally Star work?
FIA Rally Star was developed by Jerome Roussel, who worked within the FIA on cross-country rallying and regional championships and had previously been involved in communications at the French federation FFSA.
The program was open to drivers between 17 and 26 years old and attracted an exceptionally wide field. More than 7,000 candidates entered, and after multiple rounds of selection, six drivers were chosen to continue.
Participants moved through structured training and competition stages. The best performers earned the chance to progress through the world championship ladder - starting in Junior WRC, and for those at the very top, advancing to Rally2 machinery in WRC2.
The standout success story is Romet Jürgenson. The Estonian won the Junior WRC title in 2024 and as a result secured a four-round WRC2 European program in 2025 behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta Rally2 prepared by M-Sport.
Taylor Gill is the other driver who has made the most of what FIA Rally Star opened up. The Australian finished as Junior WRC runner-up in 2025 and stepped up to WRC2 in 2026, driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
The careers of Jürgenson and Gill are among the strongest arguments for building a new version of the program. They show that a well-funded development pathway can carry a driver from a global talent search all the way to regular Rally2 starts at world championship level.
What does this mean for young crews and rally fans?
Budget remains one of the biggest barriers in rallying. Even a genuinely fast young driver still needs money for a car, testing, tires, entry fees, logistics, and a service crew. FIA-backed programs will not eliminate that problem entirely, but they can reduce it at the most critical stages of a career.
For young drivers and co-drivers, the new approach could mean more opportunities to enter international competition on the basis of results and sporting merit rather than financial firepower alone. For fans, it raises the chances of new names breaking into the WRC - competitors who, without that support, might never have the resources to get there.
The new model also ties the commercial success of the championships directly to investment in their future. The more valuable WRC and ERC become for the promoter, its partners, and broadcasters, the more resources become available to fund development projects at the lower levels of the sport.
At this stage, though, no specific amounts, timelines, or allocation criteria for the FIA Growth Fund have been announced. The FIA has said full details will follow once work on the program's structure is complete.
FAQ
Where is FIA getting the money to support rallying?
The new funding flows from the long-term commercial rights agreement for WRC and ERC signed after Cosmobilis and Park Square Capital acquired WRC Promoter GmbH. The FIA says a portion of the new financial capacity generated by that deal will be directed into rallying development at all levels.
Is FIA Rally Star definitely coming back?
Not officially. Mohammed Ben Sulayem confirmed the program is being considered for revival, but the FIA has not announced a decision or a start date. If Rally Star does return, it would come back in a revised and updated format rather than an exact repeat of the original.
Who benefited most from the first FIA Rally Star program?
Romet Jürgenson and Taylor Gill are the program's biggest success stories. Jürgenson won the Junior WRC championship in 2024 and moved up to WRC2, while Gill took the Junior WRC runner-up spot in 2025 and is also competing in WRC2 with a Rally2 car in 2026.
What exactly is the FIA Growth Fund?
It is a new FIA fund aimed at financing projects that grow rallying around the world - from grassroots initiatives to projects connected to the top levels of the championships. One of its stated goals is to create better development opportunities for young drivers and crews entering the sport.