Scotland has emerged as the best hope to revive Rally GB with Motorsport UK stating “fantastic progress” on a plan to bring the World Rally Championship back to Great Britain for 2026.
The WRC has been absent from Britain since 2019 after Wales Rally GB lost its place on the calendar. The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the loss of funding from the Welsh government, has been cited for the demise of a British round that had been a WRC mainstay since 1973.
However, momentum is building to revive the event in Scotland with a rally based out of Aberdeen, utilising the picturesque gravel roads located in the Grampian and Moray regions. The area has a history of hosting rally events courtesy of the Grampian Forest Rally, which hosts a round of the British Rally Championship.
Motorsport UK first held initial discussions with the WRC about the project at Rally Sweden last year. Since then the organisation has continued to work with stakeholders in Scotland with the intention of submitting a bid for a three-year deal, beginning in 2026, subject to acquiring government support.
Further details of the project emerged during an Aberdeen City Council's budget meeting earlier this month. According to a report in the Scottish press, Aberdeenshire council finance convener Alex McLellan estimated that the event could generate more than £80million to the economy.
Motorsport UK met with stakeholders and the WRC Promoter’s event director Simon Larkin last month to discuss the bid, and this week Motorsport UK CEO Hugh Chambers has continued discussions with EventScotland in Edinburgh, following the successful completion of an event feasibility study.
“We have made fantastic progress in Scotland and I have to say that the leadership teams in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire council really have grasped the vision of bringing the WRC to Scotland and into their home region with real enthusiasm. I think they can see the impact that it can make,” Chambers told Autosport.
“We had a very productive meeting with Simon Larkin from the WRC Promoter in Aberdeen three weeks ago which was a multi-stakeholder meeting with representatives from a vast array of organisations, and the general mood is one full of optimism and people really want to make this happen.
“There are a lot of moving parts within the whole mix but I genuinely think we have an event that is ticking all of the boxes and it is really working for not just Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire council, but Scotland in general. And the WRC promoter is supportive, so we think it will be fantastic for motorsport and rallying in this country. I do think we have got momentum behind it but at the end of the day it requires a significant level of government funding both local, regional and national.”
Critical to the bid moving forward is securing funding which Chambers admits has become increasingly harder to secure in recent years. However, he believes “that we are closer now than we have ever been to getting that alignment” on funding, the exact figure is yet to be disclosed. A deadline of early summer has been tabled to complete this crucial phase of the project.
“It [the event] already has tremendous support from the stakeholders in Scotland, but the last bit of the jigsaw puzzle is the funding model and everyone is very aware of that,” he added. “I have been completely transparent that we need to make sure that all the stakeholders that matter see value for money in this.
“The next stages are that the project is going through the various levels of stakeholders, regionally, nationally and those meetings are ongoing, and over the next two or three months. I would hope by the early summer we will have managed to conclude things positively.”
Chambers is also aware that the bid faces stiff competition to secure a spot on the 2026 calendar, with the WRC keen to install the USA to the schedule. Indonesia has recently signalled its intentions to return to the WRC, while Ireland is advanced with its bid to join the 2026 calendar. The latter has targeted raising €15m from the Irish government to fund a WRC event for three years.
The WRC confirmed last year that it would be unlikely for Ireland and Great Britain to both feature on a 2026 calendar.
“Our objective is a three-year commitment starting in 2026, that is our hopeful outcome,” Chambers said. “Obviously when you talk to WRC Promoter, there isn’t much room in the calendar going into 2026 and already things are pretty full, whereas in 2027 there is a bit more flexibility. Our objective is to push to get an event in 2026, which would be in the autumn.”
