Motors: Three locations identified for World Rally Championship in mid-2025

Aiden Harper - President of Motorsport Ireland No Reproduction Fee Picture: Michael Chester

Motorsport Ireland’s plans to host a round of the World Rally Championship in mid-2025 have progressed to the identification of three possible locations to base the 10,000 square metre service park and media centre. Following Wednesday’s Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards in Dublin meetings took place with representatives of the three areas - Kerry, Limerick and Carrick on Suir, the latter likely to have its service base in Waterford city. It appears that the Carrick group is an amalgamation of several motor clubs while Kerry and Limerick are also set to gather support from neighbouring motor clubs. Its envisaged that there will be some form of an announcement before Christmas.

Speaking before he headed off to the FIA World Motor Sport Council Assembly and Prizegiving in Baku, Aiden Harper, president of Motorsport Ireland, said, “The decision (to select the facility to house the service park and media centre) will be on complete suitability, it will have nothing to do with stages or anything like that. Indeed, there may be changes coming in 2025. The first day of a WRC event now has a remote service area and there will be other areas that will benefit from that day. The remote service are is a relatively simple operation, each team is only allowed one vehicle depending on the amount of cars.” 

However, Harper understands that all could change in 2025 following the setting up of a working group to review technical, sporting and promotional aspects of the WRC. He added, “Our plan is gone to government and that will take time, we aren’t expecting anything back until around the end of February or the beginning of March. Obviously, there is communication ongoing and we are meeting all the criteria.” 

On the current class structure in Irish rallying Harper said, “We had got to a point where classes were cut back, now they are growing again. But there is always time for review for the betterment of everything, I don’t think that it is something we are ready to go into just now. It’s not part of our strategic plan but that isn’t to say it can’t be part of a bolt on or come out of something.” 

Hyundai Motorsport has confirmed that Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen and Spaniard Dani Sordo will complete the team’s line-up for next season’s thirteen round World Rally Championship that begins with Rallye Monte-Carlo (25-28 January).

The pair will split events with Esapekka Lappi in the team’s third Hyundai i20 N Rally 1 Hybrid. Meanwhile, Thierry Neuville and returnee Ott Tanak spearhead the Korean team’s bid for the drivers’ championship. The selection of the third driver on events will be based on preferences to ensure the Korean outfit will have the best possible line-up for each round with Sordo on rough gravel, Mikkelsen on tarmac and Lappi on snow and fast gravel rallies.

Mikkelsen, who was previously with the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team from 2017-2019 has since gone on to win the World Rally Championship WRC2 drivers’ titles in a Skoda Fabia in 2021 and this year. Along with his new role in the WRC next season he will also support the development of Hyundai Motorsport’s Rally2 car programme. Now 34, Mikkelsen was a teenage winner of the Fastnet Rally in Skibbereen in 2007. He said, “I am very excited to come back to the top category of rallying with Hyundai Motorsport. We (with co-driver Torstein Eriksen) have a big opportunity in front of us, and we will grab it with both hands and make the most out of it.”