Rally Scotland to bring the WRC back to the UK in 2027

The World Rally Championship will return to the UK in 2027 with Rally Scotland, a new gravel round based in Aberdeen, under a three-year agreement between Motorsport UK and series promoter WRC Promoter covering 2027 to 2029.

The deal, announced in March 2026, is backed by funding from the Scottish Government, Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council. It brings the championship back to Britain for the first time since Wales Rally GB in 2019, and stages a WRC round solely in Scotland for the first time. “This is the first time that a round of the event will be staged solely in Scotland and is a huge moment for Scottish motorsport,” said Scottish Government minister Richard Lochhead.

The rally will be headquartered at the P&J Live arena at The Event Complex Aberdeen, which will house the rally headquarters and an indoor service park. Competitive stages will run on closed forest gravel roads across Aberdeenshire and Moray. The event is expected to take an autumn slot on the 2027 calendar, with the exact date still to be confirmed as the FIA finalises the schedule. Feasibility work put the potential benefit to the regional economy at around €100 million.

The candidate event

Rally Scotland cleared an assessment in August 2026, when an FIA observer team attended the Voly Grampian Forest Rally on 7–8 August — the third round of the British Rally Championship, run in Aberdeenshire — as the official candidate event for the 2027 round. The four-day assessment covered the rally weekend along with proposed stages and infrastructure beyond it; a report goes to the FIA World Motor Sport Council for final approval.

Several WRC regulars used the Grampian to sample roads similar to those planned for 2027. Championship points leader Elfyn Evans drove the stages as the course car, with co-driver Scott Martin in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, and said Rally Scotland would deliver fast gravel stages that would challenge WRC crews. Jon Armstrong also entered, in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2, alongside WRC2 crews and a UK competitive debut for the Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2. Earlier in the year, Rally Scotland’s sporting coordinator Andy Jardine had led recce work assessing stage options for the debut.

What the organisers say

“Since the FIA World Rally Championship last visited the UK in 2019, Motorsport UK and WRC Promoter have worked closely together to find the right pathway for its return,” said Simon Larkin, Senior Events Director at WRC Promoter.

Malcolm Wilson OBE, FIA Deputy President for Sport, called the observer visit “a hugely important step for global rallying”. Motorsport UK chief executive Hugh Chambers described it as “a valuable step for Rally Scotland and a positive moment for the wider UK rallying community”.

Graham Provest, Clerk of the Course for the Grampian Forest Rally, said having current WRC contenders choose the event as preparation was “a tremendous endorsement”.

The FIA is expected to confirm the autumn 2027 date for Rally Scotland once the full WRC calendar is set.