A future rally star has been found. Romet Jürgenson has been plucked from obscurity and thrust into the opportunity of a lifetime, with a program of six rallies, plus testing, in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 beckoning in 2023.
But he’s not the only one. There will be five more. And one of them will emerge this Sunday. FIA Rally Star is heading to the Middle East. Yas Marina Circuit, once the season opener of the World Rallycross Championship, is where another young talent is about to be identified.
It might be a circuit most famous for hosting Formula 1 but for Rally Star, a gravel stage has been put in place.
Estering, home to the European final, was buzzing with almost 100 aspiring rally drivers packing the field. This time the field’s a bit smaller. There are 21 hopefuls this time. But the net has still been cast wide – competitors from Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus and host nation United Arab Emirates all feature.
Changes to the format are necessary – stage one is now effectively a practice run, with the real pressure of elimination kicking in at the second phase, as 21 drivers are whittled down to 12 for stage three.
And there are new jury members to make the decisions too – M-Sport’s Gus Greensmith and Junior WRC boss Maciej Woda will slot in alongside Pernilla Solberg, Pirelli’s rally manager Terenzio Testoni and David Terrien.
Jordan has brought the largest contingent of drivers to the Middle East and North Africa Final – six in all. Its motorsport federation has gone all-in to try and ensure one of its members becomes the next star of rallying.
“Today’s generation don’t really have the funding and support to do motorsport, but this program will boost the presence of motorsport in Jordan and this means a lot to us,” said Izz Bustami, FIA Rally Star Jordan project lead.
“The generation of today know digital racing but not so much actual racing so, for our selections, everyone who participated in the digital challenge also qualified for the slalom challenge and we are sending six candidates to the final.
“We want our candidates to go there just focusing on the event itself, we are covering all the travel expenses so they just have to go there and drive.”
Few candidates are likely to be as well prepared as 20-year-old Egyptian Hazem Zaki, though. He’s already been on a long journey to get here. This weekend is the culmination of a year’s worth of work.
“Throughout the last couple of years, I have been getting involved in most of the Esports races in our region and performing well,” said Zaki. “Around a year ago me and three others were selected from a group of more than 1000 after an intense competition that lasted for four months to find young talent in our region.”
“I’ve been training with a professional coach. The training focuses on physical stamina and endurance through a lot of running and cycling. I’ve been doing a lot of karting and sim racing with the goal of getting used to the pressures that come and to build my confidence.”
There’ll be others to look out for too, of course. George Polykarpou is certainly one of them – he’s got rallying in his DNA, coming from a family where both his father and older brother have been regular competitors in the Cyprus. He’s already a two-time champion in Cyprus’ sprint rally series himself too.
A women’s dinal that awards the seventh slot in the 2023 Rally3 program will find a new participant in Yas Marina too. Katie Milner and Maja Hallén Fellenius are already there – now Farah Zakaria, Lara Ibdah and Rhea Dagher will all have a chance to join the European pair at the final in North America later this year.
