NOW OR NEVER FOR RALLY IRELAND’S WRC RETURN BID
Crucial funding decision due this week as hopes of World round hang in the balance
Ireland’s bid for a World Rally Championship return was at a crucial phase when Motorsport News closed for press on Monday.
Sources close to the planned Rally Ireland suggested that event officials are on the verge of getting the funding approval from the Irish government they have craved since revealing their plan to bring the WRC back to the country for the first time since 2009.
Providing that happens and a deal can be struck with WRC Promoter – the sport’s media and commercial rights holder – Motorsport News understands the town of Tralee in County Kerry will become the first of the three venues selected by Motorsport Ireland to host the event next season. However, it’s not clear when the Tarmac round would slot into what is expected to be an expanded 14-round calendar in 2025.
Motorsport Ireland president Aiden Harper told MN that the governing body has set March 14 as the cut-off date for a decision on funding for an Irish round of the WRC in 2025.
He said: “We have always said that by the second week of March we should be in a position to know if we have been awarded the funding. Not the physical money but a letter of comfort to say that it is there. We are still waiting.
“Our submission is with the commission within government, there’s been communication but no questions on what has been submitted. One would take that it’s going through a process and it could go right down to the ninth hour.”
Harper added: “We are working very closely with WRC Promoter, we are trying to keep our date pencilled in the calendar. There are many other countries looking to come onboard.
“I’ve always said from an early point that if we are not going to receive the funding, then we will say it straight up, close the book and move on. But it would be an awful shame not to get it.”
Additional reporting by Martin Walsh
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