UK set to miss out as expanded 2023 WRC calendar progresses

As previously reported, the WRC is aiming to deliver an expanded 14-event championship next year, comprising eight European rallies and six flyaway rounds, as the series wishes to re-establish a more familiar structure before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UK, which hasn’t held a round since Wales Rally GB in 2019, had been among the contenders to fill a slot on the calendar in the form of Rally Northern Ireland. However, the event has struggled to secure the required government funding.

The WRC has worked closely with Rally Northern Ireland promoter and businessman Bobby Willis for the last two years to turn the proposal into a reality.

An August slot on the 2022 calendar was kept open for the rally, but the bid collapsed when a funding agreement from the Northern Ireland government hadn’t be committed to within Motorsport UK’s timeline.

In June, the WRC’s event director Simon Larkin confirmed that a UK round would be unlikely unless “something dramatic” happened, and has now confirmed that the event won’t happen in 2023.

However, Larkin has reiterated that the UK is a “critical market” for the WRC and the championship is continuing to support a return in the near future if funding can be sought.

“The UK round won’t be happening in 2023,” Larkin told Motorsport.com.

“Of course it is very critical market. The effort that Bobby Willis has put in create what would be a very exciting event in Northern Ireland, and it is very attractive to us, and we will continue to do everything we can to help him and make it happen.”

While the UK is set to miss out, the WRC has received plenty of interest from European nations to join the 2023 schedule.

Germany is among the new candidates in the mix to secure a spot on the calendar. The tarmac event made its WRC debut in 2002 and had been mainstay on the schedule, before hosting its last WRC round in 2019.

Larkin says the WRC has “far more options than slots” to fill its eight European berths on the 2023 calendar, although it does appear Ypres Rally Belgium won’t be returning next year.

The famous asphalt event made its WRC debut in 2021 having been drafted in to fill a void left by Rally Northern Ireland’s failure to secure funding, and the event again returned this year under similar circumstances.

“We have far more options that we have slots,” Larkin…