Final calendar for 2023 WRC season may not be released until October, but July has been essential to lay the foundations. In this sense, the promoter of the WRC has several open fronts and one objective, add an appointment to the calendar compared to the current season. Ultimately, behind-the-scenes efforts are aimed at have a calendar of fourteen rallies in 2023. The distribution of these events would be much more balanced than in recent years, with eight rallies in Europe and six far from the old continent.
Though hard core of European WRC events will remain unchanged, with rounds like Montecarlo or the rallies of Sweden, Finland or Greece as ‘main’ dishes, the promoter of the World Rally Championship is considering stirring up the hornet’s nest within the European calendar. Although everything may remain as it is or there may be changes linked to rotations of already known tests, on the table is the option of including Cyprus on the 2023 WRC calendar. Along these lines, There is also the possibility of adding Latvia as the new World Cup host.
All in all, the options available to the WRC promoter to compete in European countries are so many that the biggest problem is in selecting these eight dates from existing contracts and news that they want to introduce. For this reason, the greatest effort of those responsible for the World Cup is to define the rounds that are going to reach far from European territory. The return of Mexico is already confirmed, Kenya has a contract and all parties are working on the renewal of New Zealand and Japan.
With two tests to define, the WRC promoter is very interested in bringing the series back to the Middle East region. The category has been away from this region since 2011, the last year in which the Jordan Rally was held within the World Championship. Although the country opposes returning to the calendar after being part of it in the 2008, 2010 and 2011 seasons, the championship has another option up its sleeve. Saudi Arabia wants to have its space also in the WRC after being the sole venue for the Dakar and successfully organizing Formula E or Extreme E events.
The last rally to be defined could be a temporary ‘patch’ in view of the expansion of the World Rally Championship to the United States. The WRC promoter wants to arrive in North America in 2024, with a demo event already next year, even if the ‘Rally1’ cars cannot be present for logistical reasons. In this point, some rumors point to a possible return of Rally Chileproof that it was only played in 2019. In the following two seasons it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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