Talks about the USA rejoining the WRC calendar began to gain traction last summer, and now the plan seems to be becoming a reality.
The US round of the WRC is planned to take place next year in the state of Tennessee, in and around the city of Chattanooga.
Simon Larkin, the event director at the WRC Promoter, is confident that the American project is proceeding as planned.
“We are continuing to invest in the US and we have always said we will employ a different business model there and we are continuing with that,” Larkin said.
According to Larkin, the execution of the WRC event in the USA is now well on track.
“So, we’re just putting the final touches on the planning of a test event for later this year. That’s it,” Larkin revealed.
In a rather unusual move, the WRC promoter is planning to directly fund the US project. Typically, the arrangement works the other way around – the host country pays significant fees to be included in the WRC calendar.
“We’ve already made investments and started practical preparations with the event organiser. This is a joint venture with the organiser, into which we’ve also made a financial investment. We have a direct involvement with the company that will be promoting the event and a financial investment,” Larkin explained.
Larkin also confirmed that the return of the United States to the WRC calendar as early as next year is a realistic goal. A deal has already been made.
“We’ve got a contract in place. There is a contract in place for 2026 and beyond. It’s a multi-year agreement,” Larkin revealed.
He also emphasised that the upcoming candidate event will not determine the fate of the US round.
“I mean, we need to understand – a candidate event is not a pass or fail. It never has been, and it isn’t now. The candidate event is whatever we, the FIA, and the local organisers decide it is. It’s there largely to identify what needs to be fixed before a WRC event,” Larkin clarified.
“We don’t do speculative candidate events. We haven’t done that in 12, 13, 14, 15 years. That’s not what they’re for. They’re not there to test whether a market can handle it — no. They’re there to learn, to teach – largely to teach,” Larkin added.
