Attracting a Chinese manufacturer to join the World Rally Championship is a “clear target” for the FIA as it looks to grow rallying’s automotive brand portfolio in the future.
Increasing the number of constructors competing in the WRC has been a long-held target for the FIA, with this objective at the heart of its plan to introduce radical new technical regulations from next year.
The WRC has been operating with three automotive brands represented in the championship’s top tier since 2020 in the form of Toyota, Hyundai and Ford – the latter, a semi-works relationship with British squad M-Sport.
Toyota has committed to the new 2027 rules while tuner operations RMC Motorsport and Project Rally One have also agreed to develop all new cars. M-Sport is expected to continue to represent Ford with an updated Fiesta Rally2 car.
Looking ahead to WRC’s new era, FIA deputy for sport Malcolm Wilson is hopeful that by 2029, the WRC landscape will be much healthier.
“For me personally, if we could achieve six constructors by 2029, that would be great progress being made,” Wilson told media including Autosport.
Malcolm Wilson says attracting teams from China is a “clear target”
Photo by: M-Sport
Wilson also revealed that attracting players from the rapidly growing Chinese automotive industry, where there are more than 100 brands in operation, has been earmarked as an objective.
“That’s a clear target. The promoter is fully aware of that. We’re aware of it. We want a Chinese manufacturer,” Wilson added.
Interest in motorsport is understood to be growing within the thriving Chinese automotive sector. It comes after Lynk & Co became the first Chinese brand to compete in an FIA world championship after developing a TCR Touring car with Cyan Racing, which made its WTCR debut in 2019. As of this year, Lynk & Co’s parent brand Geely Auto has also now entered the TCR World Tour with its all-new Preface touring car.
This growing trend towards motorsport has been confirmed with three Chinese brands recently joining the FIA’s manufacturer committee.
“We have within our organisation what we call the manufacturer committee, it’s more or less all the manufacturers involved in our championships. And in this committee, we already have three Chinese manufacturers, which is very recent in fact,” said FIA technical director Xavier Mestelan Pinon
“And we have two other manufacturers who are in discussion with us to be registered in this committee. It’s just a signal also that Chinese manufacturers are now very close to our championships, more and more.”
China last hosted a WRC round in 1999
Photo by: Ralph Hardwick
FIA road sport director Emilia Abel, added: “We had a very good meeting at Dakar with the Chinese manufacturers, where the interest was really impressive.”
China interested in hosting future WRC round
China’s potential involvement in the WRC could extend to hosting a round on the championship with two parties understood to be interested in bringing rallying’s top tier to the nation.
China has previously hosted a WRC round in 1999, won by then Toyota driver Didier Auriol, and was set to host a round in 2016 before storms forced organisers to cancel the event.
“Absolutely, that’s possible [a future Chinese WRC round],” said Wilson. “That’s another positive thing. There are so many countries still trying to have interest in having a world rally, and that’s another thing that’s great for us. It gives us the confidence to keep doing what we’re doing.
“There are two people in China that want to have an event there. There are other countries as well, so there’s a lot of positives. There’s a lot of work still to do, and we are in this interim period.
“As I said we are in this interim period and the interest from countries to have an event is quite refreshing.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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