- Conversations with naming rights partner in US are “long way down the road”
- WRC conducting economic impact study to prove worth of Irish event
- Event director Simon Larkin says calendar could stretch to 15 events if right opportunity arises
The long-rumoured World Rally Championship (WRC) event in the US is all but confirmed for the 2026 season.
After announcing its largest schedule since 2008 for next season, with new races in Saudi Arabia, Paraguay and Spain, event director Simon Larkin confirmed that expansion would not stop there.
When asked by BlackBook Motorsport if the US rally was on course for 2026, Larkin said it “will happen”.
“We have a great relationship with Tennessee, with Chattanooga, with Nashville, and there is significant support coming from there,” he continued.
“The US is not like other markets where there is any government that will be willing to underwrite an event to the extent … that we require in other parts of the world, it’s never going to happen.
“It did take a while for us to convince our board of that, but now they’re on board, so we know we’re going to have to refinance it. We’re already a long way down the road with a naming rights partner, which takes away from some of our underwriting.
“Even if it’s not a profit maker, if it’s washing its face, brilliant.”
Once officially confirmed, WRC will then be able to say it competes on six continents from the 2026 season.
Related posts
The long-awaited US rally may not be the only new event added to the 2026 schedule, as discussions around a return to Ireland have been promising.
Having last raced in the country in 2009, the event was supposed to form part of the 2025 calendar but fell through due to funding issues. However, it emerged in June that Motorsport Ireland had not given up on the event.
Larkin continued: “I’m hoping it’s going to happen. I was in Killarney ten days ago meeting with the government. They’re pretty confident that we’ll be able to tick that box.
“We’re doing a three-event economic impact study, which we did in Poland [and] Latvia, and we’ll do it [at the] Central Europe rally in October. Already, the numbers that have come from Poland and Latvia, in terms of the [percentage of] international visitors and their impact have surprised even me.”
With it looking likely that these two events could be on the schedule soon, it begs the question of what will make way to maintain balance in the calendar. Larkin, though, stated that WRC can be flexible.
“If the right opportunity came along, we’d go to 15, but it would have to be the right opportunity,” he said.
“The difference between us and MotoGP and Formula One is our events take a week [so] we can’t do back to backs.
“So if the right opportunity came along … we would do 15, but it’s not a priority just to expand for the sake of it.
“We’re being pragmatic. For us, more events is not better.”
