The World Rally Championship calendar is ready to expand to 14 rounds in 2025, with the reveal expected later this month.
Next yr's championship is ready to feature a more global schedule, with five away rounds expected following the recent confirmation that Paraguay and Saudi Arabia will make their debuts, joining Chile, Kenya and Japan already signed up.
The calendar is ready to be submitted to the FIA ​​via electronic ballot this month ahead of its release, with WRC event director Simon Larkin confirming at Rally Poland last week that the calendar will run to 14 rounds.
“The calendar is almost ready, it consists of 14 events,” Larkin told Motorsport.com.
“We said we'd have a project ready to present to the World Motor Sport Council by the end of June. So we're not far off.”
Paraguay and Saudi Arabia are two of the three recent rallies, while the asphalt Rally Islas Canarias leaves the European Championship [ERC] to the WRC for the primary time. This means Spain shall be represented on the schedule for the primary time from 2022.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
Monte Carlo is anticipated to start out its campaign on its traditional date in January, while Saudi Arabia has been announced because the host for the ultimate round, although dates haven’t yet been revealed.
Poland won’t be collaborating within the event as last weekend’s round was a one-off event this yr, while Estonia will return, replacing Latvia, who’re making their WRC debut this yr after being promoted from the ERC calendar.
Other European rounds are expected to happen in Sweden, Portugal, Italy (Sardinia), Finland, Greece and the Central Europe Rally, while based on Motorsport.com Croatia will drop out of the calendar because it is a component of the championship from 2021.
As the WRC pursues its ambition to host two races in South America, organisers hope to carry the event over three weeks to ease the logistical burden on the teams.
An analogous approach was taken in 2019, when rounds in Chile and Argentina were held back-to-back.
“We will organize these two events within three weeks to [there is] just one weekend in between. That means we can fly from Europe to Paraguay, pack for the rally and go to Chile, and then fly home from Chile,” Larkin added.
