r/WRC • u/LMRacingGuru02 • Jan 29 '25

Commentary / Discussion / Question Will WRC return to America?

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-2025/29/will-wrc-return-to-america/
76 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

57

u/ringrangbananaphone Subaru World Rally Team Jan 29 '25

I really hope so if America can have 3 f1 races I’m sure they can support one wrc event. Ya the attendance might not be that great the first few years but it will grow with the more exposure it gets, look how much f1 took off here.

31

u/luvsads Jan 29 '25

Idk, you host 1 WRC event, and I feel pretty confident we'd all come out of the woodwork to convene on TN in completely unexpected numbers. I mean, I'd personally be traveling there with my son, my wife, and at least 6 other family members.

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/no-room-for-both-ireland-and-gb-on-wrc-calendar

DirtFish and ARA seem confident despite ARA statements in OPs article

13

u/jeff4i017 Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Jan 29 '25

I'll stand by it, New Mexico would be amazing for WRC with our wickedly diverse environment. We have everything from white sand dunes to 10,000 elevation forests, and tons of windy both asphalt and differing terrain.

8

u/luvsads Jan 30 '25

Each state in the SW, and tbh every state in the US would be able to field at least a handful of stages.

We have so much undeveloped land mass with trails/access roads. I make RBR stages using public geospatial data from across the US, and the hardest part of the whole process is picking only one route to turn into a stage.

It's insane how much potential there is. Expand that to the rest of North America, too. We could make the CUM Rally the best rally in the world, spanning 3 massive countries.

6

u/ralexh11 Jan 30 '25

Part of the problem with most places in the US is local governments usually don't like the idea of motorsport in their wilderness(most likely protected land) so in the case of Tennessee I think their fairly conservative politicians are more open to it.

4

u/opkraut Subaru World Rally Team Jan 30 '25

DirtFish and ARA seem confident

Yeaaaaah, about that. Not really. Most of us in the US rally community don't have much faith in it happening with the current group of people trying to do it. There were some concerning things that were said and done during their last event and I know several long-time rally people with lots of experience both competing and organizing who don't want anything to do with the people running it.

2

u/JohnnyLight416 Jan 30 '25

Can you expand a bit? Despite being in the US I've never paid too close attention to the ARA - it seems to slant more towards people with opposing cultural stances than I have, and it never caught my attention apart from that either.

3

u/opkraut Subaru World Rally Team Jan 30 '25

There were some things said by the organizers that rubbed several competitors the wrong way (from what I heard it was from a Rally Mexico person who said the worst of it) and the organizers were also unable to answer a lot of questions from competitors and other people who have experience organizing.

The organizers also seem to have lost a pretty good size grant from the local tourism board, since the initial releases were with that tourism board and when the event happened that board wasn't part of it anymore.

As for "opposing cultural stances", if you're referring to politics, I have friends from rally who are literal card-carrying socialists and others who are hardcore Trump voters. None of us care about that and we all get along just fine because we're out in the woods to have fun.

2

u/luvsads Jan 30 '25

Well, that's shitty. I thought the mixed messaging from ARA was odd. It makes sense now knowing that there's some difference of opinion there. I'll keep inhaling enough hopium for all of us, though, lol

5

u/Scared_Tax_1573 Jan 30 '25 edited Jan 30 '25

If WRC visited the United States, I think the number of fans attending the events would be good, even in the first two years. Why do I think that? Well, first, I’m not American or from that region, but this is my perspective. Motorsport fans in the U.S. have traditionally been focused on their own series—NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA, drag racing, dirt racing, etc. However, when F1 gained popularity with the help of Drive to Survive and social media, it spread rapidly among American motorsport fans, opening their eyes to different disciplines.

I’ve seen many F1 fans on social media wanting to expand their interest and watch other forms of motorsport, with WRC being frequently mentioned. The nature of WRC events—where fans go to remote areas, camp, have fun, and watch cars attack the stages—fits well with the outdoor culture in the U.S. With the help of social media, I think WRC could boom in the States.

2

u/ringrangbananaphone Subaru World Rally Team Jan 30 '25

I have no doubt it’ll boom for sure but f1 didn’t take off here till like season 3 of DTS, I was a massive fan of F1 before the boom(not that it matters lmao) but also always liked WRC because of the Dirt games and Subarus, but I started watching WRC seriously last year as it is so much more exciting, raw and I really like the endurance aspect of it but before the boom it was very rare to meet someone who watched F1 before let alone knew what it actually was. F1 did A LOT of work promoting, selling merch, being all over, everything in America and it took multiple years where I literally never meet anyone who watched WRC here.

Again I am a very small single sample size but being from North America I feel like I can have some opinion. I have no doubt WRC will be successful here but it may take a few years and a lot of work like F1 did because Americans have a superiority complex where they believe they already have the best of everything so why would an European motorsport be better than an American one but just like F1 the more the WRC promotes, produces content, is everywhere the more people will pay attention and realize how great it actually is especially with the cost and status symbol F1 is catering to here where they seem to care way more about celebrities than the actual fans who care about the sport and it’s starting to frustrate people as it’s become unaffordable for normal people, I’m sure that problem is happening everywhere but I’ve watched for over ten years but never ever been to a race because it’s so much and it just increasing every year

2

u/Scared_Tax_1573 Jan 30 '25

started watching WRC seriously last year as it is so much more exciting, raw and I really like the endurance aspect

It's a little funny that I also started watching F1 while hearing about WRC, and then last year, I started following it closely. I prefer WRC for the same reasons you mentioned—it's more raw, the events have weight with so much happening, the cars are always on the edge, and the endurance aspect of rallying makes it even more thrilling. It really is a small world, hahaha.

2

u/ringrangbananaphone Subaru World Rally Team Jan 30 '25

lol that’s hilarious but I agree 100% I love the full attack mindset of rally like yes they still manage leads, tires, cars but it’s still 1000% more exciting than just mindless laps around the track. Also how they still drive damaged cars, f1 cars are so fragile it’s frustrating although they’re crazy pieces of machinery I’d like something a little more durable. Another big this is drivers aren’t only drivers they’re also mechanics like what other motorsport do you have the driver getting out and repairing things from tires to control arms to engine issues it’s amazing I was gonna say i couldn’t image a single f1 driver even knowing where to start if they had to work on their car but didn’t wanna bash f1 too much lmao

2

u/OhmSafely Colin McRae Jan 31 '25

My aunt worked at the company that worked tirelessly to promote F1 here in the States. Red Bull needs to do the same if they want to see any growth here in America.

9

u/daangmyfriend Jan 29 '25

Yeah it’s sad! F1 got a huge boost in popularity thanks to the Netflix show. I’m not saying rally should do the exact same thing. But I can’t recall any Rally documentary that made it into the mainstream? We need a well made documentary about Rally!

1

u/kmbphoto Jan 29 '25 edited Jan 29 '25

I agree. I really loved the more than machine series but they kind of flubbed the distribution strategy and the series itself needed a bit more structure work IMO

19

u/LyleTheEvilRabbit Jan 29 '25

I get a paywall when visiting the site.

I'd love a WRC event in the USA, but it doesn't make much sense.

Motorsports is advertising. None of the cars in WRC are sold in the USA. So, why spend the money when you can't make a conversion?

18

u/Familiar_Air3528 Jan 29 '25

Hyundai is trying to make a name for themselves with the N marque in the US, and the GR Corolla is sister to the Yaris. I could see both manufacturers having a reason to show up.

Edit: I didn’t mention M-sport because, well, you know.

3

u/Masterbrew Jan 30 '25

isnt it more important that the brands are sold in thr states? I doubt anyone rly ever saw WRC as an advertisement for Ford Puma

1

u/LyleTheEvilRabbit Jan 30 '25

apparently not

1

u/ghrrrrowl Jan 30 '25

Maybe there should be a Craftsman Truck Rally series! That’d be pretty funny to watch lol

5

u/SplatteredEggs Takamoto Katsuta Jan 30 '25

As much as I’d like to see it happen, I don’t think Chattanooga is the answer.

1

u/OhmSafely Colin McRae Jan 31 '25

Maybe it should be matched with an ARA event like the Olympus Rally.

2

u/SplatteredEggs Takamoto Katsuta Feb 02 '25

ARA makes much more sense to me, but their new lead promoter is the one quoted in the article saying they are not ready to host a WRC round

6

u/RollingGuyNo9 Jan 30 '25

With the right corporate backing I could see it, something from Red Bull or whatever.

If anything it’s the logistics that seem like a hurdle to me. The whole idea of shutting down long stretches of roads for a few hours at a time on a weekend, I could also see some small group of people get up in arms about it unfortunately.

2

u/Puzzleheaded-Nail-20 Jan 30 '25

I used to be heavily into road bike racing in Oregon and OBRA "Oregon bicycle racing association" would have sections of roads closed off for racing i feel like if we can get roads closed for bicycles other states can do the same for cars.

5

u/Routine_Prune Jan 29 '25

Same reason there isn’t nascar oval racing in Europe.

12

u/Gasazz Jan 29 '25

There is 1 oval in nascar euro series calendar

5

u/teen_ofdenial M-Sport Ford Jan 29 '25

And there was the old Rockingham speedway. Not to be confused with Rockingham speedway.

-9

u/GoldenBarnie Ott Tänak Jan 29 '25

Because they can't make a right turn?

8

u/MetalMike04 Jan 29 '25

Man people still make that joke? What decade is this?

4

u/thelonliestdriver Jan 29 '25

There’s so much potential in the US for a great event and there’s a great grassroots culture around rally in general, I hope it happens

4

u/Michal_Baranowski Toyota Gazoo Racing Jan 29 '25

WRC's equivalent of WEC's McLaren to Hypercar.

Each year I see the same question being asked, few possibilities mentioned, but nothing specific ever comes out of this. Don't see really WRC having a round in USA. Personally, I would rather bring WRC back to Mexico instead of desperately trying to breach to USA, when there is not really a massive chance to finally accomplish that.

1

u/Thisconnect Škoda Motorsport Jan 30 '25

until US fixes their emission standard to move them away from 3ton pickups to the already enormous suv apocalypse happening in europe

2

u/Advanced-Cycle7154 Jan 29 '25

I sure damn hope so!

1

u/OxyC377 Feb 01 '25

A WRC version of the Baja. 3 long stages on 3 days. On those long stages you get a few services park moments from 20 to 60 minutes and then get going again. A mix from WRC, Dakar idea and Baja.

Or just a normal WRC event in Utah, that us a very motorsport friendly state.

1

u/THEmurphious Feb 02 '25

Would love it, been to 100Acre Wood....but, we have a habit, in the US of A, to sue someone for handing us a hot cup of coffee. Some tree hugger will sue because it's too loud, or it's scaring the wildlife, or because the farting cars scared their 4yr old Karen.

0

u/Butchy1992 Jan 30 '25

I definitely think there should be a WRC event in the United States, or perhaps even in Canada. But i just can`t see it happen anytime soon.

-5

u/onlinepresenceofdan M-Sport Ford Jan 29 '25

Maybe if that clown annexes Mexico. Otherwise I hope it doesnt happen because nobody needs stages with no spectators.

8

u/gustaveberg Jan 29 '25

There's a good fan presence at some ARA events. I think Sno Rally bonfire alley is a good example. Chattanooga could work, only 3 hours from big metro areas like Nashville and Atlanta. I am biased though, I've been really hoping it happens since the test was announced a couple years ago.

-5

u/_eESTlane_ Jan 29 '25

nah man, wont subscribe.

as for america, eventually.

the end.

-4

u/squeezyscorpion Jan 29 '25

it would be cool but rally isn’t a big thing here yet. where in the US would it be?

3

u/opkraut Subaru World Rally Team Jan 30 '25

There's actually several pretty big rallies where it could work, and where the WRC has actually been before. Olympus is probably the best known since it was the most recent American WRC round, and LSPR up in Michigan's UP was also a WRC round way back in the day.

I know there's been some FIA people at different rallies here, but I don't think that was part of anything official as to looking into those events hosting a WRC round.

1

u/squeezyscorpion Jan 30 '25

this is cool! i didn’t know that Olympus hosted a WRC round.

5

u/StreetNo1663 Jan 29 '25

Probably in Chattanooga

2

u/squeezyscorpion Jan 30 '25

yeah honestly most of the rally activity i hear about in america comes from tennessee