According to information from Motorsport.com, there will be a total of 14 rounds next year, compared to the 13 rounds in recent seasons. The calendar is scheduled to be announced later in July.
There will be three new rounds included, as the WRC caravan travels for the first time to the Canary Islands, Paraguay, and Saudi Arabia. The number of long-haul rallies will increase to five, with Chile, Kenya, and Japan retaining their places on the calendar in addition to Paraguay and Saudi Arabia.
“The calendar is basically ready, it’s a 14-event calendar,” confirmed Simon Larkin, event director for the WRC Promoter, to Motorsport.com during rally poland.
“We said that we’d have it ready for presentation to the World Motor Sport Council by the end of June. So, we’re not far off.”
Rally Monte Carlo will once again open the WRC season in January in traditional style, followed by the snow rally in Sweden. Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian rally is reported to close the rally season.
According to the motorsport website, the visit to Poland in the WRC will be a one-year stint. Croatia is also set to lose its place in the calendar, having hosted a round consecutively since 2021. Additionally, Rally Latvia will not take place next year, as Estonia returns to the calendar. The plan is for Latvia and Estonia to alternate in the WRC calendar.
Traditional rallies such as Portugal, Sardinia, Finland, and Greece will remain on the calendar. The new Central European Rally is also included in the 2025 WRC calendar.
In South America, the rallies are organised so that the Chilean and Paraguayan rounds will be held consecutively, with only one weekend in between.
“We’ll do those two events over three weeks so that [there is] just one weekend in between. It means we can fly everything from Europe into Paraguay, do that rally pack-up and go over to Chile, and then fly home from Chile,” Larkin explained.
