FIA to “double motorsport participation in four years”, says Reid

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In the round-up: New FIA deputy president of motorsport, 2001 World Rally Champion co-driver Robert Reid, says the new administration will aim to double motorsport participation levels over the next four years.

In brief

Reid commits to double motorsport participation in first term

The new FIA deputy president of motorsport, Robert Reid, has committed to a campaign pledge to double the participation levels in grassroots motorsport over the next four years by focusing on developing nations.

Reid, a WRC world championship winning co-driver alongside Richard Burns, says the FIA will grow grassroots motorsport in developing economies under new president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

“I think our policies, we’ve stated,” Reid told RaceFans.

“What do we want the organisation to be like? We need the organisation to be transparent. We want to focus on regional empowerment and overall growth, especially from a sport perspective.

“Mohammed and I in the manifesto, we have set some ambitious targets double motorsport [participation] in four years. And I think clearly the developing world and continent of Africa, for example, will be the place where we can achieve most of that. In the more developed countries, it’s not going to be so easy. But yeah, we absolutely want to put the organisation on a good footing and grow the sport.”

F2 – Drugovich quickest on day two as rookies Doohan, Sargeant impress in test

Felipe Drugovich was fastest by almost half a second on the second day of three in the Formula 2 post-season test in Abu Dhabi. The MP Motorsport driver set the quickest time of the day with a 1’35.614, covering 84 laps over the two sessions.

Two drivers who will be competing in their first full F2 season in 2022, Jack Doohan and Logan Sargeant, ended the day second and third fastest, respectively.

Day one pacesetter Jehan Daruvala was fourth fastest for Prema, ahead of Theo Pourchaire in the ART, who completed the most laps of any of the 22 drivers with 107.

Irvine signs for Williams

British actor Jeremy Irvine has appeared in a new promotional campaign video for Williams.

In a move by team owners Dorilton, the video forms part of a new marketing campaign called ‘A Williams Beyond Racing’, which the team says will “inspire a new audience” beyond motorsport.

Irvine, best known for playing the lead role of Albert Narracott in Stephen Spielberg’s adaptation of War Horse, said he was a “huge F1 fan”.

“If I’m ever filming anywhere there is a race, I try to go along,” Irvine said.

“I am hugely excited with where Williams is going, I think they’re taking a really new exciting direction towards becoming a truly desirable racing team. I’m very privileged to be a very small part of the transformation of such a storied and iconic British Racing team.”

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Comment of the day

Newly elected FIA president, Mohammed Ben Suyalem, takes his position with the promise of bringing change in how motorsport’s governing body is run. Reader @bosyber hopes that the new administration’s words are backed up with actions.

Well, nothing like a new head of motorsports to be able to maybe fix some of the left-over issues with their headline sport, you’d hope.

Not holding my breath, but it does give some face-saving potential to get going. I hope the perception of more diversity also turns out to be true, so far a lot of it has been words with only a limited amount of substance behind them, but who knows, there definitely are passionate motorsports people who are also for that. More transparency definitely sounds good to, esp. if it would be mated with visible accountability.
@bosyber

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Julio Mv and Nat Lockwood!

On this day in motorsport

  • On this day in 2001 BAR launched their 004 chassis for the 2002 season

Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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24 comments on “FIA to “double motorsport participation in four years”, says Reid”

  1. Agree with CotD. If they can follow through with the promises he and his administration have made, then I think we could see a lot of positive change. Do feel slightly sorry with them being thrown right in at the deep end after Abu Dhabi though.

    Actually doing some research, Ben Sulayem actually seems to have a pretty good track record. Former rally driver, as has been mentioned before, but he seems to have done a very good job with the UAE national association and played a major role in organising both the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and the GP. He also seems to have done quite a lot of charity work, which is also nice to see, with a particular focus on SEND, as well as apparently providing quite a lot of support to the UAE Paralympic team this summer just gone (all this is sourced from Wiki so I can’t say it’s definitely true, but nothing states out as obvious falsehoods). I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I just hope he handles this Abu Dhabi investigation properly. My opinion is that the early signs are promising.

    Great to see the caption competition back.

    Think next season could be make or break for Drugovich personally. He showed his talent a lot in 2020 but did seem to struggle a bit this season. He seems like a nice guy though so I hope he can do well. As I say, he does seem like a talented driver.

    And Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

    1. The only things what should be investigated right now:
      – Why Hamilton was not penalised for his Lap 1 antics, where he did not gave back the position he gained
      – Why is it acceptable and remains unpunished, that a driver and a team boss brings the sport into disrespect with empty accusations, missing multiple official events and weponizes media and fans against FIA officials
      – Why was overly the stewarding with Hamilton and Mercedes, receiving practically non-existent punishment where it was possible

      The season was so rigged for Hamiltons 8th title that losing like this was a joy to watch. Liberty was preparing Hamilton wins in advance throughout the season arranging POC celebrities for post race ceremonies to have a really progressive corporate black moment and everytime they did that somebody other won and it resulted in as awkward situations like the Serena Williams interview in Monaco. Joy to see a plan disintegrate through a season like this.

      1. *why was the stewarding overly lenient

        1. Jean Todt’s plan was not Hamilton’s win, it was quite opposite – “Michael Masi, let Max pass Lewis for the Championship!”

      2. @leventebandi in the end race direction stood strong. the sc call sums the season up. in the rules and in practice lapped cars get to unlap but for some mysterious reason (not mysterious at all) the initial call was to not allow unlapping, thankfully race direction avoided nailing the last coffin on what was the most rigged season in my living memory.

      3. The first part of this comment doesn’t provide anywhere near a balanced argument on those events. The second part, is mouthing off about ‘POC celebrities’, which makes it look like it is obsessed with something else other than motorsport

      4. I see the r*cists are beginning to crawl out of where they’ve been hiding.

      5. he only things what should be investigated right now:
        – Why Hamilton was not penalised for his Lap 1 antics

        I’ll investigate it for you right now:

        – Car #44 was pushed of the track by car #33, having to take avoiding action.
        – Car #44 then slowed down to reinstate the gap it had before car #33’s divebomb attempt
        – No further investigation necessary

        I get it, you hate the guy. I don’t like him very much myself. But Max can be very happy that Hamilton took avoiding action. Otherwise, this would’ve ended in a crash that would have been 100 % Max’s fault.

        1. @kuvemar

          But but but just a week a go Max had to give the place back for a carbon copy of that incident……

          Let me guess: That was a legitimate overtake where Max should have yielded? (despite being properly screwed by Lewis his cheating tacticts on the way to the grid?

      6. Arr, i think i can see why your confused, you’ve mistaken F1 for an actual sport..

      7. Ludicrous statement

  2. – Why Hamilton was not penalised for his Lap 1 antics, where he did not gave back the position he gained (because Max again pushed him off the track)
    – Why is it acceptable and remains unpunished, that a driver and a team boss brings the sport into disrespect (the sport cannot be brought into disrespect anymore, because it is the pinnacle of disrespect)
    – Why was overly the stewarding with Hamilton and Mercedes, receiving practically non-existent punishment where it was possible (because Max received practically non-existent punishment in Saudi Arabia etc.)

    1. Why is it possible to use 6 engines with ultimately only a 5 place grid penalty for one race when that disadvantage is gone in two laps?

      1. Why didn’t anyone else think of using more engines then? The rules are the same for everyone.

  3. FIA: “So, do you want your new kart track to replace the planned school or the planned hospital?”

    1. Yes, women’s rights are a tough topic. Iranian women were banned from soccer stadiums for 40 years etc.

    2. they’ll all be abandoned after a year or 2 anyways so it’s not like it really matters.

    3. You don’t have hospitals and schools without good businesses funding them. So not sure what this point is.

  4. I would make a comment but I am resting my brain cell in anticipation of the Caption Competition :)

  5. Has anyone heard from Michael Masi after Abu Dhabi? How does he reflect on the 2021 season?

    1. @pinakghosh As Masi is Australian, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in quarantine in an Australia hotel, and probably quite happy about it. No physical contact with the outside world for 2 whole weeks. He’s probably safest there.

  6. “Irvine signs for Williams” – for a second I thought this was news from the 90s. Or that Eddie was back in some capacity (senior advisor or something).

  7. Africa, Pakistan and India have massive growth potential. Especially with karting.

  8. Max is super quick but trying to overtake him is let’s say risky to be kind. The imposition of strict stop go penalties for dangerous driving is all very well but the stewards need the courage of their convictions and need to apply them from the first race. Lewis did try some manoeuvres that were equally risky but soon found out that Max would not yield I wonder if any driver is prepared to consistently risk their career against him.

Comments are closed.