Why the WRC's new BBC broadcast deal matters

The World Rally Championship is set to return to Great Britain next year and now action from every round of rallying’s top tier will be broadcast live on the BBC in the United Kingdom.

For many British fans this is a dream scenario and one that even as little as five years ago seemed unthinkable, even impossible. It is fair to say since the Wales Rally GB dropped off the calendar after 2019, it has been a bleak period for the UK WRC fan.

The loss of rallying’s top tier from the UK has affected the British rally community on several levels, but fresh green shoots of a recovery arrived with the European Rally Championship landing on Welsh shores from 2024. But boy, has 2026 given British rallying a shot in the arm, and finally there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In March, almost out of the blue, the WRC’s hiatus from British shores came to an end with the all-new Rally Scotland event, based out of Aberdeen, signing a three-year deal. And now WRC will be back on the BBC for the first time since 2001 as part of a new three-year deal announced on Friday at BBC Scotland in Glasgow. It’s almost like a birthday and Christmas presents wrapped up in one for the UK rally fan.  

For a generation, this writer included, the BBC was the portal into this mind blowing and spell binding WRC world. For almost two decades this was the entry point to WRC rally action through must-see shows such as BBC Grandstand and Top Gear Rally. It was these programmes that brought the iconic Monte Carlo, Sweden and Kenya to name just three into our homes, before providing access to millions when Rally GB came rolling into town.

Who can forget Colin McRae’s donuts of delight as he won the 1995 world title, the heartbreak of Carlos Sainz’s Toyota conking out without metres of the finish and the 1998 crown being dramatically handed to Tommi Makinen, or Richard Burns triumphing in the famous 2001 ‘Battle of Britain’ title showdown against McRae.

All of this drama from Rally GB was pumped into peoples homes by the BBC. The BBC’s coverage helped turn the likes of McRae, Burns, Makinen and Sainz into not only into the best drivers in the world, but household heroes to boot, that you would pretend to emulate in the playground or on computer games at home.

Without the BBC WRC’s coverage and the inspiring voices of Steve Rider, Tiff Needell, Tony Mason and Mark James, there is a real chance that rallying could have passed me by completely and I never would have dreamed of working in the discipline. It turns out I’m not the only one it influenced.  

The WRC has been shown behind a paywall on TNT for the past number of years

Photo by: WRC

“I was speaking to the guy from the BBC and he's exactly the same age as me and we had exactly the same memories of BBC covering WRC when we were younger,” said M-Sport Ford team principal Rich Millener. “Watching especially Rally GB on BBC Grandstand with Steve Rider, and that I guess is the first real coverage I saw of WRC and that's what kind of got me into it. So, to now be here today [at BBC Scotland] with the announcement of WRC coming on to BBC Sport, it is amazing.”   

While there is a lot of personal nostalgia wrapped up in the above paragraphs, those examples illustrate the power that live sport on free-to-air television can wield. It has the power to capture imaginations, create new fans and in turn grow the sport. This is exactly what the WRC needs right now.

Granted, since the BBC lost the WRC rights at the end of 2001, Channel 4, fronted by Penny Mallory, Jon Desborough and former factory Renault rally driver Robbie Head, did a more than fine job and took up the baton that the BBC dropped with aplomb. It brought rallying to a new audience, with such delights as Virtual Spectator, that I hope one day will return. While the WRC isn’t at the same height of popularity as in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the action is still among the most spectacular and gripping in global motorsport right now.

“I think it's really positive news and it's coming at a time where there's a lot of change happening in WRC" Elfyn Evans

Since the sport’s halcyon days the WRC has remained present on free-to-air television with ITV having shown WRC highlights since 2020. But this return to the BBC promises to give the WRC a much bigger footprint and more exposure. 

Certainly, confirmation of live coverage of selected stages, including the Power Stage of every event for the next three years is a significant step forward. That alongside 60-minute highlights shows and extensive live coverage from every day of Rally Scotland, and coverage across the BBC's many digital platforms, is a massive win to help rebuild and grow rallying in this country. 

“I think it's really positive news and it's coming at a time where there's a lot of change happening in WRC,” said championship leader Elfyn Evans fresh from offering guests and BBC staff a WRC donut experience they won’t forget outside the BBC Scotland building in Glasgow.  

“The inclusion of Rally Scotland, coverage on the BBC... this should all be very positive and we have new regulations coming as well, so it's good news. 

Evans looks set to become Britain's first WRC champion since Burns

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“I'm right in saying that Grandstand was the programme to watch in the past and obviously it was very famous for its coverage of the RAC Rally when you're growing up. It was always something I'm going to remember, so it's nice to have it back.

“I think it should help inspire the next generation. When you generally speak to people about rallying the name Colin McRae always comes up. And they say 'I used to watch it, but I don't know where to watch it anymore'. So hopefully this will improve that situation and make it more accessible for people.”

Could we even see the likes of fellow Welshman Mark James return to the coverage offering a nod to the past? 

”There is a good chance and I’m sure he will still be up for it,” added a smiling Evans. 

While it is easy to reflect on the past, it is important to note that times have moved on, so don’t adjust your sets to BBC1 hoping to see wall to wall WRC action. The world consumes sports in a different way now since 2001, so as it stands this new deal is largely centred around coverage on the BBC’s iPlayer.

But this on demand model is perhaps a far better way of capturing a newer  and younger audience that appears to be turning away from traditional television viewing experience. It is this ease of access to the sport for not only the hardcore fan but the casual enthusiast that has M-Sport-Ford driver Josh McErlean excited.

“I think the most important thing is that it's free access for the people and everyday people that’s not actually interested in rallying," he said. "You don’t have to look for the sport, find an app, download it, subscribe to it etcetera.

“I don’t remember much from 2001 but even looking back in the archives, it's proper to have a brand such as BBC behind the WRC now. It shows you the changes the new promoters are already making.

“I think this is the best way to get the sport across to the normal person. I think all the coverage lately, or in the past decade, let's say, was faced at the rally fan as such. Whereas now it's across to every type of audience. 

"If they're interested in football, if they're interested in Formula 1, let's say it's there in front of them. You don't have to go and subscribe to a channel to see what it's all about. It will grow the sport. It’s a proper deal. It helps grow and [create the next generation] the engineers and all the people that work in the sport. It just gets everyone involved from a kid to an older person.”

“It's big news for the UK. It's big news for Rally Scotland. And it's big news for WRC fans as well, because to have free-to-air access is a big deal for everybody" Eric Boullier

McErlean is right to call out the new promoters in all of this as this is the first major announcement since French automotive company Cosmobilis and private credit investor Park Square Capital acquired WRC Promoter, to become the series’ new commercial rights holder. The significance of this agreement is not lost on WRC's new CEO, former McLaren F1 boss Eric Boullier.  

“I might be the most British-French person in the racing world because I lived for 15 years in the UK," he said. “It's big news for the UK. It's big news for Rally Scotland. And it's big news for WRC fans as well, because to have free-to-air access is a big deal for everybody. 

“It's part of the strategy today [to grow the sport] As you know. WRC, it's one of the biggest motorsport platforms in the FIA. In terms of TV numbers, if you obviously add everything, we are not that far behind Formula 1.

"It's mainly due to the huge hardcore fan base we have in the world. I think it's great to see that a great historical partnership can be renewed again after so long. But for me, the most important thing is the strategy to bring the fan back to rally and a new audience to rallying, and to showcase rallying.”

From next year the WRC has a round back in Britain and now a free-to-air coverage package to make the most of this boom period for British rallying. Everything is now in place to help inspire and create the future drivers, co-drivers, engineers, media and fans of the future. 

Here's hoping the deal will hold a lasting impact

Photo by: WRC