News is beginning to break of yet another new round in the WRC. But is it real or rumour?
La Provinica, a Spanish News channel in Gran Canaria, has today posted on their X feed news that the organisers of the Rally Islas Canarias, currently a round of the ERC, has reached an agreement with the WRC to host a round on the WRC in 2025 and for 26. Aridany Romero, Sports Councilor of the Island Council of Gran Canaria, seemed to confirm in a local TV broadcast that the Rally was indeed part of a wider plan and the championship was to visit the island next year. That was 2 weeks ago.
Back in November last year, Automovilismo Canario reported that the new sports advisor of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria at the time, Aridany Romero, had explained in the program Ser Deportivos Las Palmas, when asked about the situation of the Rally Islas Canarias, that
“the budget is important and we are talking” so that it can be valid for the World Rally Championship.
“We agree that we can have the WRC in Gran Canaria, but we have to meet with all the institutions because the budget is important, more than double the cost of the European Rally Championship. We are talking about an amount that exceeds the option.” to have the Cycling Tour of Spain in the Canary Islands in 2026,” he said.
He acknowledged that
“negotiations with the WRC promoter are advanced and one of the options to reduce costs will be that instead of having the WRC for just one season, there would be two in a row. The important thing is that the WRC promoter wants to come to Gran Canaria to run the Canary Islands Rally for his fans, its roads... The Canary Islands are at the level of the best and we do not have to feel less than anyone. That all the benefits of our rally are recognized gives enormous satisfaction,” he stated.
Rumours last year hinted that Rally Islas Canarias could alternate with the Rally Catalonia in the World Championship in the future. Catalonia was last included in the WRC calendar in 2022. The rallies in the Canary Islands and Catalonia are of a similar nature. Both can be classified as pure tarmac rallies, where cutting corners is hardly practiced. Thus, the asphalt roads remain relatively clean from gravel and dirt.
It is possible that there are some alternatives such as the possibility of the island of Tenerife hosting a stage if it is on the calendar of the WRC in the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Those three stages are being analysed in the event that the WRC were to be held, but it is not expected to leave the Canary Islands. It is an option that has been proposed to the organisers.
Despite the the latest news, no official statement has been released from the WRC at this stage,
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