Nacon, KT Racing, and Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) have announced a brand new worldwide program to find future rally drivers: FIA Rally Star. It will be available this December through a DLC for WRC 9, the official video game of the FIA World Rally Championship. WRC already runs its own eSports program but the main goal of the new FIA Rally Star program is a talent hunt for the best rally drivers from across the globe.
WRC 9 will be taking this next step to unearth the drivers of tomorrow alongside its eSports WRC Championship where many talented players get the chance to compete throughout the year un a virtual competition that reflects the World Rally Championship. FIA Rally Star will be open to all players between 17 and 26 years old and will be a multi-phase selection process. It will give the most promising drivers a chance to pursue their dreams professionally.
They will be trained and coached by the FIA under the new program. Seven finalists including a female driver will get the chance to ultimately start their international career before aiming to join the FIA Junior WRC. The first FIA Rally Star qualification phase will start in 2021 on WRC 9 and will be available to all players who have the FIA Rally Star DLC on consoles or PC available in December.
Yves Matton, Rally Director at FIA said:
Being innovative and global, FIA Rally Star’s ambition is to develop new solutions allowing young drivers from all over the world to reveal their potential. As soon as we introduced the project to NACON and KT Racing teams, they showed great enthusiasm and we couldn’t have hoped for better platform than WRC 9 to select the most promising candidates. The FIA World Rally Championship brings together fans from every continent. Many of them dream to get behind the wheel and our wish is to make our sport more accessible. Through FIA Rally Star and its digital version in WRC 9, living this passion is simpler than ever.
Roman Vincent, founder, and CEO of KT Racing development studio further added:
The idea that the future stars of rally will start their professional driving careers because of WRC 9 is a great pride for the entire team and one of the best rewards for all the work we have put in over the last few years. After the success of eSports WRC, which has already unearthed hugely talented players, we can’t wait to find out who will be the finalists of FIA Rally Star!
Additional details about the new program will be shared in the coming days. WRC 9 is slated for release on Xbox One, PS4, and PC on September 3, 2020. PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch release dates will be announced at a later stage. The FIA Rally Star DLC will release in December 2020. Pre-orders for WRC 9 are now open across all platforms. For more details on WRC 9 check out the previously released Rally Japan and New Zealand Rally.
Are you looking forward to the FIA Rally Star program and becoming a WRC star yourself? Let us know in the comments section below.
