Thierry Neuville trusts WRC Promoter’s new owner, Cosmobolis, to steer the World Rally Championship in the right direction.
Several years ago, Neuville was the man who first publicly raised the debate about improving the WRC’s promotion.
WRC Promoter’s takeover was confirmed on the Friday of Rally Finland (July 31), with Éric Boullier enlisted as the new CEO and Julien Vial alongside him as COO.
Neither Boullier nor Vial has publicly shared their vision for the WRC yet, but Neuville believes their track record (Boullier in Formula 1, Vial at Michelin) suggests the championship is in good hands.
“Obviously we’ve been waiting for a while for that announcement and it’s finally there, so I think we can be happy,” Neuville told DirtFish. “Now we need to see that the promoter can work closely with all the stakeholders to make the championship great again.
“But for that it needs ambitious people and it needs a vision as well: a vision and a plan to bring WRC back to where it belongs. But I think that I trust the guys who are in charge because I know what they did in the past and I’m very confident they can do the job.”
Neuville still feels change took “far too long”, but is pleased the deal is now in place.
“I mean when I said it for the first time, it was in Portugal 2018, I think. And then another time in ’21. Years have passed. And I remember that, yeah, I had some discussions at that time with Andrew [Wheatley] when he was at the FIA. And, yeah, things just didn’t move forward.
“Now, finally, things happen. But in the meantime, the championship had a hard time.”
Neuville is, however, less positive about the 2027 technical regulations, which feature less power and aerodynamics than the current Rally1 cars.
“I heard some statements from Ott [Tänak] and some other drivers who drove the car that it seems to be less spectacular,” he said.
“I think these [current] cars have been the top of what we have seen so far in rallying, together with the previous edition of WRC cars, which were great cars as well. It will be a step back.
“I mean, you go out in the stages here and you see the WRC Rally1 passing and then the Rally2, the difference is big.
“Nobody wants to take a step back,” the Belgian added, “but sometimes it’s a choice of choices, basically.”
Neuville has previously stated he doesn’t know what he will be doing in 2027 yet.
