Motorsport Ireland cans bid to host 2025 round of World Rally Championship

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin in their Toyota GR Yaris during day three of the FIA World Rally Championship at Monte Carlo. Picture: Philip Fitzpatrick/Sportsfile

Motorsport Ireland has canned its bid to host a round of the World Rally Championship next year but will continue to explore the possibility of alternative hosting beyond 2025. 

The announcement follows communication on Monday last from Minister Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht that his department would need “at least six months” to undertake further independent economic assessments and analysis of the Motorsport Ireland proposal that sought €15m government funding for its three year (2025-2027) WR rotational plan. 

Last January three locations - MTU Kerry, Limerick Racecourse and Waterford Quays - were identified to host the events provided Motorsport Ireland were successful in securing funding. The six-month time frame from Minister Bryne is beyond the June announcement of the 2025 WR calendar.

In correspondence issued to the representatives of the three locations and seen by the Irish Examiner, Motorsport Ireland president Aiden Harper outlined the time frame of the application process that began last June. 

Harper stated “On January 23rd we (Motorsport Ireland) emailed Minister Byrne seeking a meeting, unfortunately we did not receive an acknowledgement to that email, let alone a reply.” 

It appears four additional requests were made, the last on March 11th yielding a response that directed Motorsport Ireland back to the Major Sports Events Unit, who had previously stated they had completed their review of the submission and that it was with Minister Byrne for a final decision. 

Motorsport Ireland have said they received no questions or feedback on any of the documents they submitted despite multiple communications to the department asking if they required any additional information.

The governing body have always stated that their WRC bid was only possible with the financial support of Government. 

In a statement to the media, Aiden Harper said, “Non-inclusion (of the three areas) in 2025 is in no way any reflection on any of those areas. The work that has been put in by them has been incredible and I thank them for that. 

"I would like to thank the WRC Promoter GmbH, especially Simon Larkin, for all his assistance throughout this process and hopefully we will be in a position to revisit this magnificent opportunity in the future. 

"It is a great shame to have to hand this great opportunity and the economic benefit it would bring, over to another awaiting country. ” 

In its three regional presentations it was stated that each of the proposed rounds would be worth €100 million to the Irish economy prompting a number of politicians to describe the application bid as “a no brainer.” 

Figures issued by Rally Finland have revealed that their 2023 event, one of the most popular and iconic events within the WRC, generated €19.5million of which €14m was tourist related. 

Figures from a case study of Rally GB show that their event, last run as an WR round in 2019, brought “£10million of positive economic gains to the region.” 

It appears that the MI figure of €100m each year is based on data from the WR Promoter and previous Rally Ireland events.

Motorsport Ireland notes and appreciates Minister Byrne’s commitment to undertaking the necessary assessments and analysis required and will continue to communicate with him, his department and WRC Promoter GmbH to see if alternative hosting years are possible beyond 2025. 

The disappointing news comes at a time when Irish rallying is at an all-time high with next Sunday’s Birr Rally attracting a maximum entry of 165 crews with almost thirty more on a reserve list.