EMILIA ABEL outlines FIA plan to reshape WRC events from 2027

October 28, 2026

• EMILIA ABEL, FIA Road Sport director, is driving a push to restructure WRC event weekends into a tighter ~50-hour competitive window, keeping the standard 300km distance.
• Rally Estonia 2026 served as the pilot, compressing recce, shakedown and stages into a denser schedule while letting competitors arrive in Tartu later in the week.
• ABEL confirmed a phased rollout: roughly 25% of WRC rounds to use the new format in 2027, with adoption increasing year-on-year through 2028 and beyond.
• The FIA says it remains open to individual organiser proposals, reviewing format changes case by case in the best interests of the championship.

fia road sport, fia world rally championship, rally estonia, wrc 2027