The United States has been in the running for a new event on the FIA World Rally Championship schedule. Chattanooga, Tennessee is the prospective base for the international rally and is scheduled to host a test event to showcase its viability next month. However, the wait to host the flotilla of aggressive Rally1 machines will be longer than anticipated. The Tennessee event won’t be on the 2024 WRC schedule.
Motorsport.com reports that the WRC has settled on a 13-round schedule for its 2024 season. However, the expected desert rally outside Jeddah and the woodland event in the Cherokee National Forest haven’t made the list. The FIA and the championship’s commercial promoter have stated their aim to boost the WRC’s profile by bringing rallies to attractive markets, specifically targeting the United States and Saudi Arabia.
The WRC hopes to include both the United States and Saudi Arabia on the 2025 schedule, but 2024 will still see new and returning rallies to the world championship. The Central European Rally, a tarmac event across Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, will make its debut after signing a three-year contract. Rally Poland is also expected to replace Rally Mexico on the schedule.
The test event is still scheduled to take place next month despite the expected exclusion from the schedule. If everything goes to plan, rally fans will hopefully see the WRC’s best tackling the Tennessee forests in 2025. It has been 35 years since the 1988 Olympus Rally in Washington, the last FIA World Rally Championship event in the United States.
