Northern Ireland will not get the free date on the 2022 WRC calendar – For the third year in a row, Great Britain will not be part of the World Rally Championship
The Rally Great Britain is one of the classics in the World Rally Championship. Since 1973, the round was part of the WRC calendar, but since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, things have looked bleak. 2019 was the last time the event was held in Wales so far. And even in 2022, the new Rally1 cars will not be chasing times in Great Britain.
The past few years have been tough for British rally fans. Officially the 2020 rally was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but in Wales the rally probably wouldn’t have happened anyway for financial reasons.
The calendar for 2021 originally included Great Britain again. But as no alternative to Wales could be found, the Ypres Rally in Belgium was given this slot in the calendar. In 2022, there is a free date for an asphalt rally from 18 to 21 August.
It had previously appeared that a rally in Northern Ireland would occupy this slot. But it has now been revealed that there will be no event in the Belfast area. Behind the project is businessman Bobby Willis.
Willis had already tried to bring the World Rally Championship to his home country last year. In the end, two million pounds were missing in the financing of the project. Since that setback, however, plans have continued to stage the rally this year.
In December, however, Motorsport UK withdrew its support. According to a BBC Northern Ireland report, Motorsport UK saw a lack of decision-making power and “a financial risk”. The project was deemed “unviable” and they were “very disappointed” overall.
Our British colleagues from have contacted Motorsport UK and Bobby Willis for comment. There has been no feedback from either side so far. However, there might be a rally in the UK again in the future.
According to the BBC, Motorsport UK will support projects that are financially feasible. Simon Larkin, event director of WRC Promoter GmbH, also wants to continue working on bringing the World Rally Championship back to the UK in 2023.
With regard to the current season, it remains unknown which rally will receive the free calendar slot in August. The WRC promoter will not comment on this until the contracts with the corresponding rally have been signed.
