Rally Argentina is reportedly close to securing a long-term WRC deal. Find out more about the potential deal below and when it could begin.
Wanting A WRC Return
Rally Argentina has been absent from the WRC calendar since 2019. The event has one of the longest histories in Rally. First joining the WRC in 1980, Rally Argentina was a staple on the WRC calendar up until 2019. The event would only miss 2 seasons in that period, 1995 and 2010. Sebastien Loeb has won Rally Argentina the most times, winning it a total of 8 times throughout his career. Only two active WRC drivers have won the event. Those drivers being Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak.
When Could Rally Argentina Make It’s WRC Return?
Rally Argentina will most likely return on the 2024 or 2025 WRC calendar. The 2024 WRC calendar hasn’t been revealed yet, however, it is believed the calendar is ready to be revealed. It had been previously reported that the calendar would be revealed at EKO Acropolis Rally Greece. Seeing as this article is being written just under a month after Greece took place, that didn’t happen. There’s a chance the event will appear on the 2024 calendar if everything works out for it. However, it’s more likely it’ll reappear on the 2025 calendar.
Where Would It Run?
The event would be run as one-half of a back-to-back trip to South America. With Rally Chile BioBio being the other half. This was done in 2019, when Rally Argentina ran at the end of April and then Rally Chile ran less than two weeks later in May. This seems like the most logical option for the WRC. As it cuts down on costs to transport the cars over twice.
However, finding the correct time frame for this would take a bit of moving things around. As of now the Croatia Rally and Vodafone Rally De Portugal run at that time. It’s not just as easy as saying push events back either. As events only have limited time to run, some may be able to move back a couple of weeks or months, while others may not be. It is possible one of the events could take place in early March. While the other takes place during the end of March this would allow the WRC to have the events go back to back while also making sure they don’t interfere with other events.