Rally US has successfully completed its candidate event for World Rally Championship inclusion – but what happens next?
Senior figures from the FIA and WRC Promoter visited Tennessee and Kentucky to assess the Rally US infrastructure in a week-long program (June 11-17) organized in conjunction with the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS).
The event made a big impression on FIA road sport director Emilia Abel, who described the candidate event as “truly positive.”
“What we have seen from the team, from the stages, from the preparation level, it has been really, really, really positive,” she enthused.
“I don’t think I came to the US with any expectation, but still it has surprised me. It has mainly been surprising from the perspective of the readiness of the team, how detailed they have been already thinking things through, doing the planning, going to the level of the communication, how far off is already the medical delegate with all the details.
“And another thing that’s been nice for our team is wherever we went – from the service park walking around, to the parc exposé, we to spectator areas on the stages – people were really excited to see FIA around, coming to speak to us, asking ‘Is it really going to happen that WRC is coming to US?’ I said ‘Yes, this is what we are here to do, to validate that you guys are ready for it’. So it was really nice to experience this, that we feel welcome here.”
Abel (left) with Rally US promoter Matt Crews
But making an impression on the FIA is only half the story. As Rally US promoter Matt Crews remarked: “We’re not at the starting line yet, and I think that’s a great way to look at it. We’ve done a lot, but we’re not at the starting line.”
There is a process to be followed, and the FIA – in conjunction with WRC Promoter and ACCUS – will now follow that procedure and decide whether Rally US gets the 2027 WRC calendar berth it’s striving for.
Abel: “We start with an internal debrief, where we will submit all the relevant reports from the sporting side, from the safety side, medical delegate from the medical side. We will have the debrief meeting with the local organizing team and from there on the work doesn’t stop.
“Obviously, it continues the whole way through until we get to the actual confirmation and inclusion in the calendar. An important aspect from our side is also reflecting back to ACCUS, our FIA member club, to debrief about what our visit like.
“I have already been in contact with [ACCUS President] Kevin Miller during the visit, but we will certainly do a proper debrief also with ACCUS and all the relevant people from their side.
“But I believe that everything what we want to achieve during the preparation period, we will achieve.”
Crews shared that view.
“I think everyone’s leaving here on a very, very positive note,” he said, “but we would be naive to think that there’s not ways to improve. So I think, collaboratively, we really want to make sure that we’re working closely with WRC Promoter, with the FIA and with all of the stakeholders in this to make sure that we do take the best of the best and collaborate on what should be a monumental event.
“I think working collaboratively with the FIA, with ACCUS, and the stakeholders can really help us maximize what this event can be. I think the event is too big and the opportunity is too big for us to be siloed in our efforts. I think the collaboration that we’re leaving here with has got everyone very optimistic about what the future holds.”
What are the stages like?
The candidate event enabled insiders to get a first look at the proposed stages for Rally US, which two-time world champion co-driver and current FIA WRC sporting delegate Timo Rautiainen said “are very interesting”.
He described: “They are unlike any other stages that I have seen in the championship. They are partly very technical, quite slow, twisty, flowing, nice roads. And then also quite a lot of faster roads. Not exactly like Estonia or Finland, but quite fast roads. And the surface is almost the same on every stage, so very compact, crushed gravel stages. So they’re quite nice.”
The proposed Rally US stages aren't like anything else in the championship
FIA rally category manager, Marina Duñach, believes the WRC drivers will “love” the roads on offer.
“The roads are very exciting and nice,” she said. “The sporting side of the stages is very interesting – different to other events that we have in WRC, I think the drivers of WRC will love that.”
Everything, therefore, is on track, but when will we get confirmation that the US is returning to the WRC for the first time since 1988?
“In the coming months, for sure, the work will continue and hopefully by the time that the promoter is ready to submit the calendar for approval for the FIA World Motorsport Council, we are going to see Rally US as part of the calendar,” Abel concluded.
Crews smiled: “When that final decision is made that we are going forward, that’s when the clock starts ticking. But we feel so confident that we’re in a great position to start that sprint.”
