The world motorsport governing body has elected to make this decision at Annual General Assemblies Week in Baku ahead of tomorrow’s World Motor Sport Council meeting.
A brief FIA statement revealed that the working group will “evaluate and recommend the future direction of rallying”. It will be headed by FIA Deputy President Robert Reid, the 2001 World Rally Championship title-winning co-driver, and the 1981 WRC co-driver champion David Richards, who is the chairman of Motorsport UK and a World Motor Sport Council member.
The Working Group plans to not only address grassroots rallying but technical, sporting and promotional aspects of the WRC.
“At the World Motor Sport Council Strategy session at the Annual General Assemblies Week in Baku today, it was agreed to form a Working Group to evaluate and recommend the future direction of rallying,” read a statement from the FIA.
“The Working Group will be led by FIA Deputy President for Sport Robert Reid and World Motor Sport Council member David Richards.
“Under consideration will be the technical, sporting and promotional aspects of the FIA World Rally Championship. The group will also address the pathway for grassroots development of rallying.
“An initial working paper will be presented for consideration by the WMSC and WRC Commission within two weeks.”
The move to create the working group comes after a season where the WRC has come under fire from drivers, teams and fans for a perceived lack of appeal and direction.
WRC drivers have been particularly vocal regarding the need for change, which has resulted in Elfyn Evans’ co-driver Scott Martin joining the WRC Commission to provide drivers a voice in any future changes for the discipline.
A raft of proposals have since been collated and are expected to be presented to the World Motor Sport Council tomorrow.
It is understood that the proposals tabled range from compressing WRC events by decreasing the length of road sections, to the introduction of a new points system to spice up the action on Sundays.
