The World Rally Championship is looking to expand its global audience and take the series to new countries all over the world.
Since its inauguration in 1973, the WRC has hosted events in over 30 countries across all corners and continents around the globe.
The 2025 season will take a big step towards that goal as the calendar will expand to 14 rallies. Estonia, Latvia and Poland will be taken off the schedule and will be replaced by the return of Rally Islas Canarias in Spain, as well as new events in Paraguay and Saudi Arabia with the WRC agreeing a mega 10-year deal for the event.
WRC event director Simon Larkin is confident a rally in the United States ‘will happen’ in the future. He is also confident that the WRC returning to Rally Ireland is on the cards after meeting with the government.
But there is one other event that is on the promoters’ minds as they look to get it back on the WRC calendar.
Hugh Chambers is hopeful Rally GB will return to the WRC with a new event in Scotland
Rally GB has run under numerous names since the first event was held in 1932. It had regularly appeared on the calendar since the inaugural WRC season up until 2019 when it last was run in Wales.
The event has been off the calendar since then, with UK promoters fighting to get it back in the WRC. Now, speaking with DirtFish, Motorsport UK CEO Hugh Chambers is confident that Rally GB will make a return.
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Chambers revealed that the plan is to host the event around the city of Aberdeen, with the Scottish government being in ‘full support’ as they undertake a three-month feasibility study. But while it is gaining momentum, he stressed that the next six months will be ‘critical’ for the plans.
“This is one that has definitely got some momentum behind it,” said Chambers.
“Nothing is ever done until it’s done, and there’s still some hard yards to go, but I do genuinely think we’re in better shape now than we probably have been for 10 years and so is the potential for Rally GB. We’ve got fresh thinking, fresh stakeholders and fresh momentum.
“WRC Promoter is fully abreast of everything we’re doing and they’re very, very supportive and very keen as is [FIA road sport director] Andrew Wheatley. I genuinely think we’ve got things aligned, but the next six months are going to be critical.”
The WRC is looking to expand its global audience and into the US market
The links to new and returning WRC events come after the rumours that WRC Promoter GmbH’s owners are potentially looking to sell the business.
In an attempt to expand the championship’s global audience, it was previously reported that they are hoping to strike a deal worth in the region of £426m.
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The WRC is also hoping to break into the American market and emulate the success that F1 has had with owners, Liberty Media.
With three Grands Prix in the USA in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas plus the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive, F1’s popularity has skyrocketed in America and the WRC is hoping to achieve the same feat in the coming years.