2024 WRC calendar revealed 

The 52nd World Rally Championship season has been laid out for 2024, with the 13 round WRC season adding Poland and Latvia to its destinations.

The two countries to miss out next season from this year’s fixture are Mexico and Estonia, whilst the rumoured potential of a rally being held in the USA will have to wait for another season to potentially go ahead.

New Zealand and Australia were also expected absentees from the 2024 fixture, as well as Spain missing out for a second straight year, but the calendar has remained largely the same albeit with the African trip getting reassigned, with the new additions of Poland and Latvia to be back-to-back in the mid-year.

The roads of Poland last saw WRC action in 2017 in a difefrent era of rally car (pictured: Sebastien Ogier in a Ford Fiesta WRC).Image: LAT

The iconic Rallye Monte-Carlo will keep its traditional opening slot on January 25-28, with the famous French Alp Col de Turini passes set to put the Rally1 and WRC2 fields to the test from the get-go.

The snow and ice fixture of Rally Sweden is set to follow in February which also starts the season for the WRC3 and Junior WRC fields. The unique conditions will again give cause teams to the Rally1 teams to dedicate some of their limited preseason practice time to prepare for the super fast and slippery roads.

Having been run in June in recent years, the Rally Kenya date had been shifted back to March for Round 3, which also coincides with the rainy season in Naivasha, making the trip to Kenya an even tougher prospect than it already is.

After the rough asphalt roads of Croatia in April, the field moves from Zagreb to the roads of Portugal on May 9-12, before a trip to the Italian isle of Sardinia at the back end of the month.

The Kenyan rally has been moved back into the rainy season, increasing the chances of drivers facing roads lashed by epic African storms

Late June has been designated for a return to the roads of Poland, which will be the 80th edition of the Eastern European rally, and the first for the WRC since 2017.

After the lightning fast roads of Poland, the WRC will welcome a newcomer in the Set Rally Latvia, which is the essential replacement for the Estonian Rally. With the Latvian Rally in the ERC having been deemed a success, the Baltic roads around the coastal city of Liepaja will offer up loose surfaces at high speed.

 The WRC remains in the Baltic for Rally Finland, before it heads south to Greece at the start of September for a change in conditions, offering up tricky, winding, and rocky mountain stages.

The ERC has been nurturing the Latvian Rally in preparation for its WRC debut in 2024

Late September sees a return to South America for the Rally Chile Bio Bio, before a move back to Europe for the penultimate Central European Rally: a tri country event across Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.

The season finale once again remains in Japan on November 21-24, ending the season in Toyota’s homeland on the fast and grip-challenged Asphalt.

Every round of the WRC season will be broadcast live on WRC’s groundbreaking new platform Rally.TV, as well as via traditional broadcast partners around the globe.

The next round of the 2023 WRC season is the October 25-30 Central European Rally which is making its debut on the calendar.

It has come down to a two horse race between Toyota Rally1 drivers Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans, with Rovanpera very much on the front foot to capture a second straight title.

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