Irish World Rally Championship location to be rotated as bid launched

Waterford, Limerick and Kerry will alternate as host locations for Rally Ireland if the proposed World Rally Championship bid is successful.

Motorsport Ireland are bidding to bring the WRC to Ireland in a minimum three-year deal, starting in 2025.

President Aiden Harper said the process for funding from the Irish government had started.

Motorsport Ireland are asking for an investment of 15m euro over three year for a return of 300m euro.

Three locations - Limerick, Waterford and Tralee, in Kerry - were visited by Motorsport Ireland and WRC officials on Thursday and Friday. Harper said all three bids were "exceptional" and "inseparable" after inspection.

If funding and a place on the WRC calendar is secured, Motorsport Ireland would speak to the three locations about which order they would wish to host the WRC.

"In Kerry, Limerick and the South East, we have a trio of world class venues that will be ideal hubs for the event," Harper added.

"Today's announcement is obviously predicated on securing Government funding and this is a process that is underway at present. Our bid is currently under consideration by senior management in the Major Sports Events Unit of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media."

A WRC spokesperson said: "Ireland is an incredible country and since the last running of Rally Ireland in 2009, the world teams have been wanting to return.

"We look forward to continue working with Motorsport Ireland and the FIA to work through the necessary steps to secure a calendar slot for Ireland's bid."

The announcement on Tuesday was expected to be the selection of one location to host the WRC and the decision to rotate three venues came as a surprise.

The location in Limerick would see the service park, fan zone and facilities, which requires 10,000 sq m of space, held at Limerick Racecourse.

The Institute of Technology Tralee in Kerry and a base in Waterford City, the home county of the late Craig Breen, are the other two locations to be selected.

The WRC last came to Ireland in 2007 and 2009, with Sebastien Loeb winning both events.

The bid comes after a number of unsuccessful attempts to bring the WRC to Northern Ireland in recent years.

Four previous bids to bring rallying's premier series to Northern Ireland - in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024 - have failed, largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent deadlines for funding with the lack of a devolved government at Stormont.

Simon Larkin, the WRC's event director had told BBC Sport in February that WRC officials were "100% behind" having Rally Northern Ireland on the 2024 calendar.

However, with continued delays surrounding a bid north of the Irish border, attentions have now turned for Rally Ireland to make a return to the calendar on what has been proposed as a three-year agreement, starting in August or September 2025.