To organize rally events in Asia is a big challenge: FIA

In Macau, to be part of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) General Conference 2025, which has been taking place from last Tuesday until today, Emilia Abel, Road Sport director at FIA, spoke to the Times in an exclusive interview on the current panorama of Road Sport events, particularly in Asia and in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

To the question of why Road Sport events are ultra-popular in Europe and other parts of the world, such as rallies, but seem to be almost non-existent in Asia these days, Abel noted, “Today we have Rally Japan in the World Rally Championship (WRC) [calendar] and we have the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship with five events. Indeed, it’s not big, it’s rather small. I suppose it initially stems from the fact that a rally or similar event on the roads is much more complicated and challenging to organize. There are a lot more challenges related to the competitor’s safety.”

She also noted that for a rally, there is a need to have a lot of knowledgeable people at your disposal, because such events involve a large number of marshals deployed along every stage.

She noted that it is indeed a complex task, particularly in areas where a rally has never been hosted before, and one must start from scratch, setting up all the stages and ensuring everything works, which is a colossal undertaking.

In comparison, organizing circuit events is much easier and quicker.

“If you go to a circuit, you enter, you put your marshals on the marshal post, and this is your event running. So I think that might be one of the main reasons. But as you mentioned, it was never [that popular around this part of the world], and even the level of the events we see today, they do not have the same approach as we see in Europe. But the same happens for the Middle East, so it is not an exclusive aspect of Asia.”

She noted that, in reality, Europe is an exception in terms of the popularity of this category.

“Let’s say in Europe it’s really concentrated and it’s developing, and there is a lot of focus on safety. So it’s cultivating itself.”

Multi-region events are the most complex

Questioned by the Times on the possibility of hosting a road sports event involving the GBA cities and regions, Abel said, “This is one of the most complicated formats to control for sure, because they are very complex [from the logistics and even legal points of view]. If we take the example from Dakar [Rally], these formats are getting less and less popular, especially from the FIA perspective, because they are difficult to control.”

On the other hand, the FIA director believes that there may be a possibility of hosting events in the cross-country format (Rally Raids), as has been done in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, particularly in the 1990s and early 2000s.

“Cross-country, yes. Because there you don’t have a strictly defined road, and it does not take place on a closed road to traffic. It’s an open road, you don’t have marshals anywhere, so this is a possibility, but not anymore with today’s rally cars [used on WRC or ERC].”

Currently, there is still at least one important event of this kind in Asia, precisely linking Pattaya in Thailand to Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

The Asia Cross Country Rally (AXCR) 2025 is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Although scheduled to take place from August 8 to 16, it is currently under threat, as military clashes between Thai and Cambodian forces occurred near the Cambodian border in northeastern Thailand on May 28.

According to a statement from the organizers, the tensions have led to the closure of the planned border for the AXCR2025, making the event’s progress uncertain.

Emilia Abel

In the past, the Hong Kong to Beijing Rally was a long-distance rally event that ran for several years. Starting in 1985, the rally’s route spanned over 2,000 miles. It consisted of various stages and terrain types, culminating in a final stage at the Great Wall of China before concluding at Tiananmen Square. This event was eventually replaced by the Rally of China in 1997.

Rallycross is a serious possibility

With its more mature and successful experience since 2023, the Rallycross (RX) competition stands as a strong candidate for more frequent appearances on the sports event billboards in the region.

Questioned on this topic, Abel said, “I must admit, I’ve had several discussions over the past few days on this topic, because, like you said, rallycross is a much easier event to set up.”

“Ideally, if you have a track, our safety department will review the license and ensure it meets the requirements. However, the biggest advantage is that rallycross also allows us to host city races, as was the case in 2023 in Hong Kong. This is a perfect example of what can be done, and it is something that stays in the memory of people and that everyone involved in the championship is still talking about,” she added.

As she remarked, the fact that it takes place in a city center, with the city as a backdrop, is really eye-catching and it also has advantages regarding attendance since, contrary to a rally stage in which people need to find their way and spots to see the cars pass-by, this is an event that happens in a controlled environment and that spectators can take full advantage of.

Questioned on when we can see rallycross back, Abel noted, “Not in 2025, for sure, but we are speaking about 2026 and onwards, and yes, it’s a possibility that we will see more of these events.

“It has a lot of action, and it’s quite a show for spectators, and it also has the attraction point that we still have currently the electric [cars] versus the ICE (internal combustion engines), so it adds another layer of action.”

The Hong Kong World RX event took place at the Central Harbourfront Event Space, a multipurpose venue established by the Hong Kong government that has also hosted the Formula E e-Prix from 2016 to 2019, as well as concerts and other entertainment activities.

According to official information from the Hong Kong government, this space covers an area of 36,000 square meters. In comparison, the local government has stated that the new Macao Outdoor Performance Venue covers an area of 94,000 square meters.