The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the global governing body for motorsports and the federation for mobility organizations worldwide, has announced the conclusion of the seven-day Rally US candidate event, marking an important step in the process for the FIA World Rally Championship's (WRC) potential return to the United States for the first time since 1988.

The potential return would represent one of the championship's most significant calendar developments in decades, reestablishing the WRC in one of the world's largest sport, media and automotive markets.

It would also create a major opportunity to grow rallying in North America, connecting the championship with new fans, partners and manufacturers in a country with a deep motorsports culture and an increasingly active rally community.

Organized in collaboration with the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS), the seven-day candidate event took place from June 11-17, and saw FIA delegates from the sporting, safety and medical departments assess Rally US's preparedness and planning for a potential FIA World Rally Championship round, while working closely with local officials and operational teams involved in the event's development.

The seven-day program began at Southern Ohio Forest Rally, a round of the American Rally Association National Championship (ARA), where FIA delegates observed the delivery of an existing national-level rally and engaged directly with the U.S. rally community. The visit also allowed delegates to review sporting procedures, safety protocols, medical provisions and operational structures at a national-level event, working closely with ARA officials, local organizers and operational teams involved in the delivery of national-level events.

Following the visit to Southern Ohio Forest Rally, the delegation travelled south to Tennessee and Kentucky to examine key elements of the proposed WRC round. The four-day assessment program included sporting and safety reviews of proposed stage locations, a review of local medical facilities and visits to the proposed service park and ceremonial start locations in Knoxville and Nashville, where representatives from WRC Promoter also presented plans for fan activations, media production and wider promotional activity.

With the candidate event now complete, the FIA will finalize its delegates' reports and share its findings over the coming months. These findings will support the next stage of Rally US's proposed inclusion in the FIA World Rally Championship calendar, marking the completion of an important first step towards the WRC's return to the U.S.

"Having the opportunity to work so closely with the FIA and WRC Promoter over this last week has been incredibly valuable to Rally US and America's return to the FIA World Rally Championship. The cooperation between the Rally US team, ACCUS, the ARA and their counterparts in the FIA and WRC Promoter has been really impressive. From the moment everybody arrived at Southern Ohio Forest Rally, where the delegation was able to see what a round of America's national championship looks like, all the way through a busy schedule of stage and location visits here in Tennessee and Kentucky, the positivity and cohesiveness has been fantastic," said Rally US promoter Matt Crews. "We've made great strides towards the ultimate goal of bringing the FIA World Rally Championship back to America and we're looking forward to the next steps now."

All story photos courtesy of FIA.

Feed photo courtesy of ARA