However, Rally Estonia, held in the Tartu region, will be part of the European Rally Championship (ERC) in 2024. Latvia replaced Estonia in the WRC, hosting its first-ever World Championship event this coming summer.
The WRC Promoter has previously hinted that certain countries like Estonia and Latvia could alternate between hosting WRC and ERC events. In Estonia, the government has shown the green light for organizing top-level rallies in the coming years.
The Estonian Ministry of Culture has granted a €3.15 million support package to Rally Estonia for the next two years. Other major international sports events, such as the Otepää Biathlon World Cup, received a significant €4.3 million for the next four seasons.
“International competitions are an outstanding business card of every country. High-level major competitions bring a significant number of foreign tourists to Estonia, revitalizing the economy and regional development,” said Minister of Culture Heidy Purga.
“In 2017, the Ministry of Culture supported our international sports events with €340,000, whereas in 2024, the budget was over six million. Thanks to this, our international sports stars can continue to compete on home soil, and Estonians can see their own stars as well as international ones,” Purga continued.
The Estonian Ministry of Culture’s agenda is to ensure the long-term development and future of sports events with these support packages.
€1.15 million of the support package for next summer’s ERC Rally Estonia is allocated, leaving two million euros for the 2025 event. The Ministry of Culture’s support is a strong signal that the WRC round may return to Tartu after a year’s break.
Estonia joined the World Rally Championship for the first time during the “corona season” in 2020. The state has been a strong supporter of Rally Estonia. In 2020 and 2021, the competition received €2.5 million in financial support, which was later reduced by a million euros.
For example, Rally Finland does not receive direct financial support from the state. However, the city of Jyväskylä has supported the competition with approximately half a million euros.”
