WRC in Croatia: Status, Challenges, and Future Developments

Hello rally community:)! Today is a great day for Croatia and all rally fans!

Today (October 3, 2024), at the 28th session of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, approval was confirmed for the candidacy to organize the European Rally Championship (ERC) for year 2025. & World Rally Championship (WRC) for the years 2026 and 2027!

Let’s take a look back at why this took so long🫣🤔. It has been published in July that WRC Croatia Rally had faced some setbacks, to be more precise missed deadlines and incomplete documentation for securing the event beyond 2024. As a result, the WRC Promoter has decided to hold the World Rally Championship events in 2025 in Saudi Arabia, Paraguay, and the Canary Islands. Logically - putting Croatia on hold. Despite the global popularity and economic benefits of the Croatia Rally, administrative delays have jeopardized its future, especially with growing competition from other countries eager to host WRC events.

Danijel Šaškin - the President of the Organizing Committee of the Croatia Rall explains: “At this moment, the only realistic option we see is to be included in the European Rally Championshipcalendar in 2025, with a return to the WRC in the 2026 and 2027 seasons. Of course, the following year’s participation - in 2026 and 2027 depends on the guarantees from certain institutions, and we hope they will be issued soon.”

This brought some comfort to rally fans in Croatia but it was still far from us.
Until today! The Croatian government had promised funds in case we are given the hosting. A significant €44 million investment to support both the European Rally Championship (ERC) and the WRC in the coming years!!😱😱. According to Minister of Tourism and Sport Tonči Glavina, this investment reflects the importance of the rally for Croatia’s tourism and economic development: “The Croatia Rally, part of the WRC, has become one of the most high-profile sporting events in the country, drawing large crowds and bringing substantial tourism revenue. Previous editions have brought over €100 million in tourism earnings, with tens of thousands of spectators flocking to various locations to watch the rally. Hosting the ERC provides a potential opportunity to rebuild credibility with the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) and demonstrate organizational reliability, which could help Croatia secure future WRC events in 2026 or 2027.” 😨🫣😵🤯!!

Although we should still wait for the WRC’s official confirmation, this is definitely an amazing and important milestone for Croatia!

Source: https://sport.hrt.hr/vise-sportova/glavina-vlada-podrzala-erc-i-wrc-sa-44-milijuna-eura-11790260

https://rally-croatia.com/en/news/wrc-in-croatia-on-the-break

https://vlada.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/2016/Sjednice/2024/Listopad/28_sjednica_VRH/28%20-%2018a.docx

Photo credit: Željko Puhovski / CROPIX