Rally GB among WRC events under threat from possible China return
The World Rally Championship has been warned against emulating Formula 1's pursuit of new markets over heritage, with European events including Rally GB threatened by moves to return to China

WRC Promoter's Oliver Ciesla said GB was one of four current rounds that will have to fight for a 2016 calendar place.
"We have a clear mandate from the FIA, from the manufacturers that we want to go global with the calendar and China is one of the first prospects to do that," he told AUTOSPORT.
"We have nine rallies [under agreement] and we are in the position that we have more events than we have capacity.
"We don't really have a process to deal with this, so we have to see how we handle it.
"France, Germany, Britain and Portugal all want to be on the calendar, but we think China has to come in and, clearly, there is not the budget to be running with 14 rounds, so something has to change."
Rally GB chief Ben Taylor said the event deserved to stay due to both its heritage and the efforts made to revive its fortunes in recent years.
"I can understand the desire to expand the championship to new markets, but the promoter must not neglect the heartland of this sport," he said.
"You only have to look at F1 to see that moving to new markets in search of new consumers or hefty sanction fees may be good for a business model, but risks losing the soul of the sport and the character of the events.
"We have a strong and loyal fan base in the UK, we have a long-standing motorsport infrastructure, we take safety and organisational standards incredibly seriously and commercially we are a key market for the car manufacturers.
"Wales Rally GB has been in the world championship since its inception, but we certainly don't presume that we have a divine right to host a WRC round.
"We have worked very hard in the past couple of years to turn Wales Rally GB into a quality event. I think people now recognise that we have an event that absolutely deserves to be on the calendar."
Ciesla said confirmation that Rally GB had renewed its partnership with Wales would help its cause.
"If there is deal a then we would be happy to have them as a candidate," he said.
"We will talk to the MSA and see if we can include them in the proposed calendar that goes forward to the World Motor Sport Council."
WRC manufacturers are keen for the series to return to China for the first time this century, and Ciesla said the chances were growing.
"We are progressing well. I'm still not in a position to be able to proceed with the 2016 entry, but I see no reason not to be optimistic that we will see China in the very near future."

Citroen rules out Sebastien Loeb returning to WRC for Corsica
Markko Martin: Ott Tanak must raise game again to repeat WRC podium

Latest news
Daytona 24: Westbrook’s Ganassi Cadillac tops second practice
Richard Westbrook ensured Cadillac’s new V-LMDh snagged top spot in second practice for the Daytona 24 Hours, ahead of the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Autosport Acura.
Auer suffers back injury in Daytona 24 practice shunt
Mercedes driver Lucas Auer has suffered a back injury and been taken to hospital following a violent crash in opening practice for this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours.
Daytona 24: WTR Acura tops heavily interrupted FP1
Five red flags disrupted the first practice session for this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours, while Filipe Albuquerque put the Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Autosport Acura on top.
Pedrosa to make KTM MotoGP wildcard outing in Spanish GP
Dani Pedrosa will make his first MotoGP race start since the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix with a wildcard entry for KTM at this year’s Spanish GP in April.
How fired-up Ogier became the WRC's ultimate Monte master
He may only be contesting a part-time campaign in the World Rally Championship these days, but Sebastien Ogier underlined that he's lost none of his speed in the 2023 season opener. Storming to yet another victory on the Monte Carlo Rally, the eight-time world champion rewrote the history books again as Toyota served notice of its intentions with a crushing 1-2
How Lancia pulled off its famous Monte Carlo giantkilling
Audi should have been invincible in the snowy conditions that typically greeted the World Rally Championship paddock in Monte Carlo. But unexpectedly warm weather for the 1983 season opener, combined with some left-field thinking from the Lancia crew turned the tables. Forty years on, team boss Cesare Fiorio reflects on a smash and grab
Why M-Sport has pinned all its efforts on a WRC reunion
M-Sport had a disastrous 2022 with its Rally1 Ford Pumas following Sebastien Loeb’s first-time-out win on the Monte. But now things are looking up with 2019 world champion Ott Tanak leading its attack, and the Cumbrian operation has optimism that it can challenge for a first title since Sebastien Ogier's departure at the end of 2018
The contenders seeking to take Rovanpera's WRC crown
As Kalle Rovanpera begins his World Rally Championship title defence in Monte Carlo, the Finn knows he has a target on his back. But who is best placed to knock the Toyota ace off his perch?
Why Rovanpera is anticipating a fight to defend his WRC title
Question: what could be harder than becoming the youngest-ever World Rally champion? Answer: becoming the youngest-ever two-time World Rally champion. That's quite the challenge facing Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera in 2022, particularly against rejuvenated opposition in the second year of the WRC's hybrid regulations
From F1 to WRC: Why Hyundai's new boss could be an inspired signing
OPINION: New Hyundai WRC team boss Cyril Abiteboul admits he’s got a lot to learn as he leads the marque's efforts to dethrone Toyota. But could his Formula 1 experience and evident strengths mean he turns out to be an inspired choice?
The ultimate rally car project the WRC is glad COVID killed
Toyota was unstoppable in the 2021 World Rally Championship, with an excellent 75% strike rate from 12 rallies. But in a scary proposition for its rivals, the Japanese marque had built a car for the final year of the previous regulations set which it believes was much faster and could feasibly have crushed the opposition completely. Here the story of its mothballed world-beater
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.