If a week is a long time in politics, three years between rallies is a very, very long time – which is why Rally of Nations Guanajuato organizers have opened the event up to general entries now.
Rally México is working hard on a World Rally Championship return for 2023 and rally manager Gilles Spitalier is keen to deliver an opportunity for series regulars to be back on the Guanajuato roads ahead of a possible outing next season.
“We don’t make a secret that we want to be back to the world championship as soon as possible,” Spitalier told DirtFish. “Coronavirus has cost us the last two years for Rally México and we are determined to be back in 2023.
“We have spoken with some of the teams in the WRC, the manufacturers as well as WRC2 and private teams and it’s clear that they want to try to find the way to get their drivers competing at Rally of Nations [Guanajuato].
“If we get back [to WRC] next year, it will be three years since many of the drivers competed on our roads – and don’t forget we had to cancel our final day in 2020, so they won’t have been on some roads for four years.
“The roads don’t stay completely the same from one year to the next – so coming [to Rally of Nations Guanajuato] in April this year would make a big difference.”
Rally México missed out on this season’s calendar because of the potential for coronavirus impacting on international travel and logistics.
Rally of Nations Guanajuato will run on the same roads from April 1-3, with a host of international names and WRC stars lining up to drive for their individual countries.
Harri Rovanperä, winner of the 2002 Rally México candidate, has already confirmed he will come out of retirement to compete on an event he loves.
