What's next for WRC Rally GB's revival plans?

The World Rally Championship unveiled its 2026 calendar last week and, for another year at least, there won’t be a round in Great Britain.

In truth, Motorsport UK’s plans to revive Rally GB through a new event in Aberdeen, and secure the necessary funding for a three-year contract beginning in 2026, were always ambitious. But 2027 remains a much more realistic target to bring the WRC back to the United Kingdom for the first time since Wales Rally GB in 2019.

On the day the WRC revealed its 2026 calendar, Motorsport UK CEO Hugh Chambers was on the ground at Rally Finland, leading a contingent from the Scottish Government and stakeholders to meet with the WRC, the FIA and teams to discuss their plans for a Rally GB revival.

As previously reported, the plan is to bring the WRC to Scotland utilising the picturesque gravel roads located in the Grampian and Moray regions. Aberdeen’s 9000 square-metre multi-purpose P&J Live Arena is also set to act as Rally HQ and service park. The area has a history of hosting rally events courtesy of the Grampian Forest Rally, which hosts a round of the British Rally Championship. After conducting a feasibility study into bringing the WRC to Scotland, it has already been estimated that an event would generate more than £80million for the local economy.

Motorsport UK’s visit and subsequent meetings in Rally Finland represent valuable progress for the Rally GB bid. But, perhaps more importantly, a decision regarding vital government funding, to take the project to the next level, is due in the autumn.

“We have been meeting with WRC Promoter, the FIA, with teams [in Finland] exploring the ways in which that event can best serve their purposes. We are in a good stage with the Scottish government and we hope within the next six weeks or so that we should have a decision from the Scottish government,” Chambers told Autosport.

Motorsport UK chiefs Chambers and Richards are pushing for Rally GB to return to the WRC calendar

Photo by: Colin McMaster / LAT Images via Getty Images

“I think there is considerable momentum from all the stakeholders in seeing the benefit of having a round in the UK. The actual event itself and the feasibility study we published at the beginning of this year represent a product that ticks all the boxes.

“I think that the Scottish government, both local in Aberdeen, regional and county council and also national in Edinburgh, can see the very clear benefits, not just economically but socially, of bringing a round of the WRC to Scotland. I think we are getting good alignment. I’m kind of grateful we are looking at 2027 as there is so much potential to plan this now with two years to get the very best product we can.”

Should the funding be granted for the project, Rally GB will face stiff opposition to join the WRC calendar in 2027 with the championship continuing to receive more interest from nations wishing to host a round than it has spaces in its schedule.

"We want it to be muddy and horrible because that is the character of the event. That doesn’t make itself conducive to new fans that haven’t got a history of trudging through the forests in the middle of night, so we need to think about how to make it accessible, exciting and enjoyable" Hugh Chambers

The WRC is however considering expanding its schedule to 15 events in the future, a matter which has been discussed with the teams in recent weeks. However, while the UK is deemed a key market, the WRC is eager to return to the USA. With plans to cross the Atlantic not quite ready for 2026, it is hoped that a round in North America for the first time since 1988 will come to fruition next year, with a candidate test rally planned for September this year.

As previously reported, a second Asian/Pacific round is on the WRC’s wish list, which is among the reasons it has moved Rally Japan to a spring date for 2026 to allow for better sea freight schedules to pair that event with another in the region. Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and China have been touted as possible destinations.

Then there is of course an active bid to bring the WRC to Ireland. The WRC has already stated that it could only accommodate GB or Ireland in a calendar and not both in one season.

Rally GB will face competition from an Ireland bid, with the WRC indicating there would not be space for both on the same calendar

Photo by: Sutton Images

With competition for places on the calendar high, Rally GB will have to bring something different to earn a place on the 2027 schedule. There is no question a Rally GB revival will prove popular with the existing UK rally community, but Chambers is aware that the event has to go beyond appealing to hardcore fans and attract new audiences through innovative ideas.

“I think we have got a fantastic opportunity in Scotland in tapping into the experience of the rally community the UK has, but at the same time, to some extent, a blank sheet of paper as we are moving into a new area,” Chambers added. “The last thing I would want to do is a copy and paste and take what we did back then [2019 Wales Rally GB] and move it forward.

"I think there were some really innovative things we were doing in 2019 and before in terms of students and STEM engagement, diversity programmes... and some of the hospitality things we were doing were innovative. But I’m sure we can learn from other events that are continually innovating.

“I think strategically it is about accessibility. It is about it being easy for new fans to experience the sport. There is no doubt we will cater for the hardcore fans. [The proposed] calendar date [would probably be] in the late autumn, and one of the reasons for that is we don’t want the weather to be sunny. We want it to be muddy and horrible because that is the character of the event.

“That doesn’t make it conducive to new fans that haven’t got a history of trudging through the forests in the middle of night, so we need to think about how to make it accessible, exciting and enjoyable. One of the great assets we have in Aberdeen is the P&J Live Arena, which is the most incredible facility.

“It will be a completely enclosed and covered service park but upstairs there is a 15,000-seat area and there is a whole world of things we can do with that, as well as huge spaces for conference centres and exhibition halls. I think we can bring the show to the people as much as the people to the show.

“We have already had on-site meetings where we are beginning to imagine what you could do in there and whether or not we literally bring a stage into the arena, and whether that is the best use of the space. I think time will tell.”

There is plenty of potential in this latest Rally GB bid but ultimately it will only become a reality if funding can be generated, which means the decision from the Scottish government will be crucial.

“I don’t think we will ever give up,” says Chambers. “Certainly for David Richards [Motorsport UK chairman and former Subaru WRC team boss] and myself, it is a passion project and we firmly believe the UK deserves to have a round of the WRC. That is something that all the key stakeholders consistently say: the WRC needs a round in the UK.”

Aiming to encourage new fans to rallying while providing for the hardcore audience is part of Rally GB's plan - but can it find a space on the WRC calendar?

Photo by: M-Sport