FIA launch Women’s Accelerator Program

Headed by Michele Mouton, Burcu Cetinkaya and Pernilla Solberg, they joined the WRC’s Peter Thul to launch ‘WRC Women’s Accelerator Program’, an initiative that will aim to scout, evaluate and fund emerging female talent for top-flight rallying.

Announced at the FIA’s second Sustainable Innovation Series ahead of Rally Portugal, the program also saw a raft of new announcements, including the launch of the Championships’ Sustainability Roadbook, and the launch of a new WRC partnership with the European Space Agency.

WRC’s Santiago Pena Gomez and the European Space Agency’s Guillaume Tuan Prigent discussed ‘Future Proofing Rallying’ – and the journey towards a more sustainable and resilient Championship.

The all-new WRC Sustainability Roadbook sets out a concrete roadmap to take WRC to net-zero, while the announcement between WRC and the ESA will focus on data sharing to measure environmental impact.

Audiences also heard from P1 Fuels’ Martin Popilka and Apetro’s Guido Albuquerque. Popilka – whose company produces sustainable fuels for the WRC – explained the research and development process behind the Championships’ biofuels. He and Albuquerque then went on to discuss track-to-road innovation, and the way that these innovations might be shared with consumers.

Discussion also took place about sport’s role in biodiversity stewardship. Panel members highlighted the role that rallying has to play in protecting our cultural and environmental heritage.