How the WRC is looking to conquer its next frontier

Breaking into the United States has long been a target for the World Rally Championship – yet there appears a real chance that this dream could turn into reality for next season. 

It’s been almost 40 years since the WRC last set foot in North America, and the memories of Markku Alen powering a Group B Lancia S4 to victory at the Olympus Rally in 1986 and Miki Biasion wrestling a Group A Lancia Delta to claim the spoils in the final WRC edition of the Washington event in 1988 are fading. But there is renewed hope that new memories could be created, with the USA a genuine option to join the 2027 calendar. 

“There have been people doing the groundwork to bring a WRC event back to the United States for at least three or four years now, and we got real serious about 10 months ago,” says the prospective event’s sporting director, JB Niday. “We have a schedule laid out to get there – and we’re on schedule. There’s not a lot of room for slippage. It’s a lot to do, but we can get there.”

The WRC and its teams can see the huge benefits of breaking into the North American market, and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem claimed in January that the USA is “one of the most important growth opportunities” for the WRC.

In 2024 the series announced a clear roadmap to an event in 2026 that included direct investment and involvement in promotion from WRC Promoter. But a decision from WRC Promoter and the Automobile Competition Committee of the US (ACCUS, the US’s FIA national sporting authority) was made to delay the country’s appearance on the WRC calendar until 2027 at the earliest to ensure the event has the best chance of success.

Formula 1 provides the perfect model, only recently successfully unlocking the American market after several failed attempts. 

Groundwork for a WRC event in the US started being laid four years ago, says Niday

An original bid to host a rally out of Chattanooga has been replaced with a plan for a gravel event based around Knoxville, Tennessee, taking in roads in both that state and Kentucky. In January it was confirmed that the project has now reached a point where the FIA will make a trip to America from 11-17 June to oversee a candidate event, which will go some way to determine whether the nation will feature on the 2027 WRC calendar. 

WRC Promoter’s Rally USA project leader Marc de Jong said in January: “The confirmation of this candidate event marks a significant step. It is a major milestone in the WRC’s much anticipated return to the US.”

FIA delegates will explore stages and infrastructure across Kentucky and Tennessee, gaining first-hand insight into the terrain and facilities. The programme will also include a visit to the Southern Ohio Forest Rally round of the American Rally Association National Championship, offering the FIA a chance to engage directly with the US rally community, including organisers, volunteers and fans. 

“The confirmation of this candidate event marks a significant step. It is a major milestone in the WRC’s much anticipated return to the US” Marc de Jong

Meetings are also scheduled with the proposed event promoter and organiser, Podium Event Partners, which has long-established experience across multiple motorsport disciplines, including NASCAR.

“Everything is on course,” says FIA road sport director Emilia Abel. “It’s really positive and it has taken a bit of time to kick off, but for the moment we see full dedication from the USA team, which is brilliant.” 

Securing a WRC event and running one successfully requires a dedicated team with plenty of experience. Step forward Niday, who has been entrusted with the role of event sporting director.

It’s four decades since US fans witnessed Alen’s victory at the Olympus Rally

Photo by: LAT/Getty Images

He is not short on experience. He competed in rallies in the 1980s before going on to become chairman of the SCCA Pro Rally Series, and then managed Rally America – the US national series that ran from 2005-18, in which Britain’s David Higgins claimed six consecutive titles with Subaru (2011-16). 

Niday was also heavily involved when rallying was added to the X Games, and today he is competition director at the American Rally Association, which runs the USA’s eight-round national series.

“I’ve been doing this in the US for 40 years, but what our national championship is, isn’t the same as the WRC,” says Niday during his visit to Croatia’s world championship round. 

“The candidate event isn’t like a typical candidate event. They’re [the FIA] coming to observe the Southern Ohio Forest Rally. Then we’re going to go down to Knoxville, Tennessee and tour where the headquarters and the service park are going to be.

“We’re going to go out and tour where the stages are going to be. But we’re not running a competition, we’re just looking at the stages to really narrow down what we think of the stages we’ve planned so far and maybe make some changes.

“Over the next 18 months, we’ll run each of the days [the itinerary for the WRC event], and have some small competition just to make sure we’ll bring the stage commanders and their teams in to run those stages.

The original plan was for a US-based WRC event this year, but a delay was deemed to give the best chance of success

Photo by: McKlein Photography/LAT/Getty Images

“Once we come up with the itinerary, and the FIA says yes, that’s acceptable, then the candidate event turns into something that could be on the calendar for 2027. But truthfully, I won’t stop working in June and wait until August or September when the [calendar] announcement comes out. We’ll keep charging forward as if we’re going to get invited. If we don’t this time, we hope we to a year from now.”

On top of ensuring that the facilities, service park and stages are WRC-ready, the event has to prove that it has the organisation and operation to run such a rally safely and reliably. WRC rounds operate with around 1800 volunteers and marshals, on top of the teams from the WRC and FIA that travel to every event. Demonstrating that it’s ready to undertake this level of organisation will be a key factor in determining the USA event’s fate. 

Members for the United States Rally delegation are attending WRC rounds in Croatia, Canary Islands, Portugal and Finland this year, working with the FIA, to observe how events are run. “We’re going to a number of WRC events this year to bring our team up to speed and understand the roles better,” continues Niday. “The FIA team has just been great to work with.

With the WRC and teams eager to break into the USA to reap the benefits of the category’s growth into a new market, there appears to be a lot riding on this candidate event

“There are two things that are the biggest difference from ARA to WRC. There are more volunteers, and they’re better trained. One of the biggest things we have on our agenda is putting together extensive training to get the marshals up to speed with the quality that’s going to be expected of them. I think that really makes a difference with how the stages come off. Safety is the number one thing.”

With the WRC and teams eager to break into the USA to reap the benefits of the category’s growth into a new market, there appears to be a lot riding on this candidate event. “It’s exciting to see how excited they [the teams] are,” adds Niday.

“It matters to me very deeply that this rally is successful and it’s perceived as having been a good event. I don’t expect this to be the best event in our first year, but I want people to come away and say, ‘Those are some challenging stages and the service area is set up really nice.’ 

FIA official Abel is upbeat about progress made and the commitment of the US team

Photo by: Katikis/DPPI

“The fans will come, but if the teams genuinely think, ‘That was a quality event’, that will make me very happy.”

Toyota WRC team principal Jari-Matti Latvala has already been impressed by the US scene after guiding Toyota’s new GR Corolla RC2 to victory at the ARA’s Olympus Rally in April. “It’s been enjoyable to drive here,” he says. “The atmosphere has been surprisingly relaxed, and the stages are fantastic. There are very good roads.”

Of course, the USA isn’t the only WRC candidate event on the horizon. The FIA will also be heading to Scotland in August following confirmation that Great Britain will rejoin the WRC calendar next year for the first time since 2019.

While Rally Scotland’s place on the schedule is confirmed, the FIA will still attend the Grampian Forest Rally, a round of the British Rally Championship, to complete its necessary checks.

All being well, the events on either side of the Atlantic could provide a welcome boost to the WRC in the months and years to come.

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the June 2026 issue and subscribe today. 

Latvala has been full of praise for North American stages after his Olympus Rally victory in April

Photo by: Josh Sikora