WRC 2027 calendar: 15 rounds, with Rally US and Rally Scotland
Photo: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool
The FIA World Rally Championship will return to the United States for the first time since 1988 and will hold a round in Scotland. The FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) approved the 2027 calendar, which was announced on Thursday. Portugal is not on it.
The 2027 WRC calendar: 15 rounds from Monte Carlo to Saudi Arabia
The championship has not had a season this long since 2008, when it also ran 15 rounds. Rallye Monte Carlo opens the year and Rally Saudi Arabia closes it. The four rounds that follow Monte Carlo keep the same positions they held in 2026.
- Rallye Monte Carlo: 21-24 January
- Rally Sweden: 18-21 February
- Safari Rally Kenya: 18-21 March
- Croatia Rally: 8-11 April
- Canary Islands Rally: 6-9 May
- Rally Japan: 3-6 June
- Acropolis Rally (Greece): 24-27 June
- Rally Italy, based in Rome: 8-11 July
- Rally Estonia: 22-25 July
- Rally Finland: 29 July-1 August
- Rally US: 26-29 August
- Rally Scotland: 30 September-3 October
- Rally Paraguay: 21-24 October
- Rally Chile: 4-7 November
- Rally Saudi Arabia: 25-28 November
According to DirtFish, Portugal is probably dropping off the calendar for only one season. Its absence moves Japan up to round six, with Greece following it.
Rally US: back in the United States after 39 years
Rally US is a new gravel event based near Knoxville, Tennessee, with special stages running through Tennessee and Kentucky. Rally Finland takes place four weeks before the American round, and Rally Scotland starts on 30 September.
A US return had been discussed for five years, with manufacturers pushing increasingly hard for the championship to be present in one of the key automotive markets. The United States did not make the 2026 calendar. The event earned its place in the championship after a successful candidate event in June 2026.
Julien Vial, chief operating officer of the WRC promoter, explained the reasoning: "USA is a big market for motorsport, but also for automotive. It's, for us, mandatory to come in this region."
FIA vice-president Malcolm Wilson noted that the US had been considered for years but the deal had never been closed. In his view, the American round has "probably been one of the influencing factors from Ford coming back." In the week before the calendar announcement, Ford confirmed it will return to the WRC as a works team from 2028.
Scotland, and tarmac in Rome
Rally Scotland will be the first WRC round in the United Kingdom since 2019. The event will be based in Aberdeen under a three-year agreement, and it was put together with Motorsport UK, with support from the Scottish government and local authorities.
The Italian round changes character. Instead of the gravel of Sardinia, it becomes a tarmac rally based in Rome, with stages in the Lazio region. The event steps up from the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) calendar, where it ran as Rally di Roma Capitale. In 2027 it will be round eight and the last tarmac rally of the season.
"Returning to the United States and United Kingdom, alongside bringing the WRC to an iconic destination such as Rome, creates tremendous opportunities for our manufacturers, commercial partners and fans," said Éric Boullier, president of the new promoter.
Estonia and Finland on back-to-back weekends
For the first time since 2008, the WRC will run on two consecutive weekends. Only three days separate Rally Estonia and Rally Finland.
Vial said the teams asked for this arrangement. With a two-week gap, everyone returns to base and then flies out again for the next event. He added that "all the teams will join Finland [directly] after Estonia. I think it's something new and very interesting to test. ... If it works, maybe we can do that again in another country next in 2028."
Seven gravel rounds to finish the season
For the second season in a row, the year ends with seven consecutive gravel rallies: Estonia, Finland, the US, Scotland, Paraguay, Chile and Saudi Arabia. Reigning world champion Elfyn Evans had asked for a tarmac rally in the middle of that run of gravel events in the second half of the year, so that the championship leader would not be at a constant disadvantage.
The promoter wants to make that change, but not for 2027. Vial pointed out that the agreement for the new promoter to take over was only confirmed in August, which left little room to maneuver. He said it was not possible for 2027 and that he did not know whether it could happen a year later, but that the promoter is thinking about it in the longer term.
Wilson sees no urgent need for change. He said the championship has never had such an exciting finish, so he does not think there is anything seriously wrong with the calendar.
Kenya, and why the calendar is growing
Safari Rally Kenya stays on the calendar after a commercial agreement was reached. Emilia Abel, the FIA's road sport director, did not give details of the funding. "I would say that Kenya is part of the calendar very much due to a big common effort from all sides, from FIA, from promoter and the local ASN," she said, referring to the national federation. Kenyan President William Ruto had said earlier in 2026 that funding for the rally would move from the public sector to the private sector.
The 2027 season will be the first under the WRC27 technical regulations and with the new promoter. Vial links the larger calendar directly to the rules. "But with the new [technical] regulation, with the cost brought back with something more accessible, we took the decision that it's a good time to take it," he told DirtFish.
Abel stressed that the aim was not simply to add rounds, but to find the best balance for the championship for all stakeholders.