Ireland wants to host a WRC event again. The news found confirmation after the first rumors that came out a few months ago and the confirmations arrived during the race weekend at the 2023 Acropolis, in Greece.
The WRC promoters had made no secret of Motorsport Ireland's intention to return to the WRC after having already had a slot in 2007 and two years later, in 2009, in two editions in which Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena won.
After the Acropolis, Motorsport Ireland has sent a letter of intent to its members to make known the potential offer for the WRC to return to the calendar, also stating that it is working to find the right location for the special stages, the Service Park, the rally headquarters and press room.
To date we can say that the promoters of the potential event have found three locations and inspections will take place this weekend together with members who are part of the WRC promoter group. The final decision could be made as early as next week and the contract between the parties could be for three years, as already stated by Motorsport Ireland in the letter of intent released.
According to RTE Sport, an Irish television channel, Limerick, Kerry and Waterford are the three identified areas in which the event will be held. The last of these, Waterford, is also the hometown of the late Craig Breen, who passed away last April 13th during a preparatory test for the Croatian Rally.
“Each of them could be turned into a World Rally Championship service park. So now we're down to the final three and there will be a process of elimination over the course of this week,” Motorsport Ireland president, Motorsport Ireland, told RTE Sport. Aiden Harper.
And he added: “I'm sure that at the moment we are already ready for the calendar of 2025, 2026 and 2027. This is a three-year commitment, but it has the possibility of growing up to six or nine years, because we see that all over the world there are countries that have hosted WRC events for several years, and this does not mean that we cannot do the same.”
Motorsport Ireland has also been in discussions with the Government about funding after applying. Harper said the funding required to make the event a reality is €15 million.
Over the past few years, Ireland has made several attempts to bring the WRC back home. But they all failed due to lack of funds allocated by the government. This time, however, could be the right one to implement the project starting from 2025.
#Ireland #moves #closer #WRC #event
