Red Bull is becoming the Marlboro of motorsport; it hasn't been since the cigarette makers were banished from public promotion that we expect to see such familiar colors in just about any series. Earlier this year, CSI, the parent company of former World Rally Championship promoter North One Sports, went into administration, which led to the FIA terminating its contract with North One.
Three finalists emerged in the effort to become the new promoter: a South African entity, Eurosport (which promotes the Intercontinental Rally Challenge), and Red Bull Media House. According to reports, the FIA is set to announce Red Bull Media House as the next promoter perhaps as soon as the Rallye Deutschland at the end of the month. A separate division of Red Bull sponsors the Citroën WRC team that has won the manufacturer's title seven of the last nine years.
WRC has had a tough time of it even before losing North One; the loss of its promoter only made everything worse. Should Red Bull and its massive and massively successful marketing machine be appointed to captain the ship, all parties will likely feel better, at least in the short term. And knowing how Red Bull doesn't like to miss out on promoting its properties across every platform, perhaps that means we fans will get much better access to WRC coverage.
