Rally Argentina is tipped to make a World Rally Championship return next season.
Missing from the calendar since 2019, the South American classic is moving towards a candidate event this season, with an eye to a long-term future in the WRC from 2027.
While there has been no official comment from the rally, DirtFish sources have confirmed work is underway to return world rallying to one of its most iconic locations.
A source within the Argentinian media said: “It’s close. We know the preparation (candidate) event is coming, the work is starting. We have seen officials out in the roads and looking – some of the locals are talking about what they’re seeing. Like you can understand, there’s a lot of excitement – as a country, we have missed the WRC.”
The expectation is that, on completion of a successful candidate round, Rally Argentina would move back to Córdoba Province, where it’s likely funding for the event would be coming from. Córdoba has been at the heart of Argentina’s round since 1985.
Argentina hasn't run since 2019, but was one of the most popular events on the calendar
In terms of the route, the source added: “This is where we don’t know so much. We know some of the roads are not the same now, they have been paved and don’t bring the same gravel. But could this be a Rally Argentina without Ascochinga to the north? Or the classics like El Cóndor and Mina Clavero towards the mountains – these are the legends of these rallies and we hope they can be as much a part of the WRC’s future as they are its history.”
With an American WRC round inbound under the same conditions as Argentina for next season and Scotland already confirmed, the 2027 calendar is likely to bring significant change. Paraguay and Chile both host WRC rounds in the Americas, with the former locked in to a three-year deal which concludes in 2027. Chile’s agreement is understood to conclude this season.
Despite the local enthusiasm and confirmed funding, WRC Promoter’s Simon Larkin said: “WRC Promoter has no agreement in place for a WRC event, nor a candidate event, in Argentina.”
