- Croatia joins the schedule in place of Central European Rally
- Japan and Italy swap places on schedule, but no location confirmed for latter
The World Rally Championship (WRC) has confirmed its race schedule for 2026, which features the notable omission of an event in the United States.
The season gets underway with the traditional opening rally in Monte Carlo from 22nd to 25th January before culminating with a visit to Saudi Arabia from 11th to 14th November, two weeks earlier than this year’s season finale.
Compared to last year, the major change is that the rallies in Japan and Italy have swapped places on the schedule. Notably, the latter no longer contains ‘Sardinia’ in its official event title after the island staged the last event in its current contract this year.
As previously announced, the Croatia Rally joins the schedule on a two-year deal after rotating to the European Rally Championship (ERC) calendar last season. This event replaces the Central European Rally in 2026.
The only other minor change will see the rallies in Kenya and Portugal staged a week earlier compared to this season.
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The big news is the absence of the US, a rally which event director Simon Larkin told BlackBook Motorsport last year “will happen”. Larkin then confirmed in April this year that a multi-year contract was in place with Tennessee, as reported by Autosport.
This news is a surprise and a disappointment for the championship, which was “a long way down the road with a naming rights partner” according to Larkin.
“We have always had the objective for an important market like the USA that we have to ‘get it right the first time’. With much work needing to be done to build the event from the ground up, we are being necessarily cautious towards the debut year,” a WRC spokesperson said when approached for comment by BlackBook Motorsport.
“A planned candidate event in September will provide the best possible ‘proof of concept’ as well as a training opportunity for all of the US rallying organisational community to learn about the standards of a modern WRC event, and this will provide an ideal evaluation platform.”
Rumours of a return to Ireland have also failed to come to fruition despite Motorsport Ireland’s best efforts to secure a first rally in the country since 2009.
In 2025, WRC added new races in Saudi Arabia, Paraguay and Spain. However, the lack of further expansion, particularly a US race, may feel underwhelming after much anticipation. That said, this decision aligns with the series’ strategy of avoiding expansion for expansion’s sake. As a result, the US remains a key focus for future growth.
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