A generation of American rally fans, make that two – if not three – have grown up not knowing a home round of the World Rally Championship. Enough is enough.
FIA president H.E. Mohammed Ben Sulayem feels the pain of that collective nation and he’s set on putting it right. While the 14-time Middle East Rally champion won’t be making the trip to Tennessee and Kentucky himself this week, his delegation flies west with on goal in mind: delivering Rally United States to the WRC calendar.
On the importance of Rally US, the president said: “The United States represents one of the most important growth opportunities for the FIA World Rally Championship. It is a nation where motor sport is part of the cultural DNA, with world-class domestic championships and a rapidly growing appetite for global competition.
“Now is the time to build on that momentum with this significant development.”
As far as the WRC stakeholders are concerned, this week and next is about next year and beyond for Rally US. What will be a 39-year wait for an American world championship qualifier is expected to come to an end in 2027.
And there’s no shortage of stoke for the stateside stages.
Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala made his US competitive debut on the Olympus Rally earlier this year. He left Washington with ideas he felt the WRC could take from American rallying. The feeling is unanimous among Latvala and his fellow team chiefs: the time is right for Rally US. And that time is now. Or four years ago, if you listen to them.
When FIA road sport director Emilia Abel and the rest of the high-ranking WRC delegation touch down in Tennessee and Kentucky, Rally US promoter Matt Crews and his team have laid on an impressive itinerary and overall event concept, taking on the full tour of the best stages, service parks and downtown city locations.
And if you want the reason why Rally US has finally landed front and center on world rallying’s radar, it’s thanks to Crews. He’s a man who gets things done. Seven years ago, his dream was of an Indycar race through the streets of Nashville. The circuit’s centerpiece was to have the race run over the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge, an iconic crossing of the Cumberland River.
Locals laughed at such suggestions. It was never going to happen. But on August 8, 2021 Chip Ganassi Racing driver Marcus Ericsson completed the 80th and final lap to win the inaugural Music City Grand Prix.
“I took a huge amount of pride from organizing the Music City Grand Prix,” said Crews. “It will be the same story with Rally United States.
We don’t just want to organize a WRC round – we want to set the sporting and entertainment standard for future eventsMatt Crews
“The cooperation from right across the global rally community, from all the series stakeholders has been outstanding – we’re all pulling in the same direction towards a WRC calendar slot. This event is something which has been talked about for a while, but now is very much time for action; this week is the next step in the process of bringing the World Rally Championship back to America.”
And so, to Tennessee and Kentucky.
But why there, you might ask. I’ll answer a question with a question: where is Toyota’s biggest car manufacturing plant? Obvious, I know. Toyota City, right? Or, at least, somewhere in Japan?
Wrong. Try Georgetown, Kentucky. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) employs more than 8,000 people on a facility which spans nine million square feet (that’s the same as 150 soccer pitches!) and produces a new Toyota Camry, RAV4 Hybrid or Lexus ES every single minute of every single day. And as well as the 550,000 cars it makes annually, it makes 600,000 engines.
That’s an $11 billion investment from Japan into Kentucky. Across the state line in, Ford has committing $5.6 billion to its Tennessee Truck Plant with production expected to start in 2029. And then there’s the 12 million tires Hankook is producing locally.
“We have such committed partners right across Tennessee and eastern Kentucky,” added Crews, “and they’re committed because they can see the economic benefit and visibility a WRC event brings to the region. Side-by-side with that, I’m excited to bring the WRC to the new automotive heartland of America – a fact underlined by Toyota’s latest $800 million investment in its Kentucky factory.
“Just a few years ago, Hankook invested $1.6 billion in its Tennessee facility, doubling annual production. Between the two states, we have around 700,000 people employed in the automotive sector – it’s numbers like that which further emphasize the importance of this region to motor manufacturers.
“We’re in the tourism and events business and we’re in the business of showcasing what this region offers on a global scale. We don’t just want to organize a WRC round – we want to set the sporting and entertainment standard for future events.”
Now you can see why president Ben Sulayem has such faith that: “The United States represents one of the most important growth opportunities for the FIA World Rally Championship.”
More than that, 2027 is exactly the right time to give generations of fans what they’ve been waiting for.
