On Monday, the WRC’s Promoter confirmed that it has signed a two-year agreement for the Canary Islands WRC event. Last week, there were indications that the deal would be officially sealed on Monday.
The Canary Islands event will be part of the WRC in 2025 and 2026 due to the new agreement.
“Bringing the Rally Islas Canarias to the WRC has been the reward for many years of work. It was a goal desired by several generations, and now, together with WRC Promoter, it has become within reach”, said German Morales, CEO of the event promoter Club Deportivo Todo Sport.
Rally Catalunya, in Spain, was a long-standing fixture in the WRC calendar but was dropped after the 2022 season. In contrast, Rally Islas Canarias has been part of the European Rally Championship (ERC) for several years.
Both the WRC and ERC are under the umbrella of the same promotion company. Jona Siebel, WRC Promoter managing director, believes that the popular tourist destination can host a successful WRC event.
“We are enthusiastic about having Spain back on the WRC calendar and are encouraged to see our clearly defined strategy to have an opportunity for ERC events to have a pathway to WRC coming to fruition as Rally Islas Canarias follows on from Latvia and Poland in 2024,” Siebel referred to countries that have secured WRC events this season.
Several other events are in contention to join the 2025 WRC calendar, with confirmations still pending. There has been talk about Saudi Arabia, Ireland, and Paraguay joining the series. The promoter’s plan is to have a total of 14 events in the next season’s calendar.
This year, the ERC’s Rally Islas Canarias will take place on the island of Gran Canaria at the beginning of May.
