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Canada chases a round of the FIA World Rally Championship

A non-profit organization is currently working on getting Canada a round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Leo Urlichich

Leo Urlichich

Benoît Nicolas

The Rally Promoter Association of Canada (RPAC), led by founding Director Keith Morison, is working on building a project to get the FIA WRC cars and competitors to Canada for a round of the World Championship.

RPAC is a federally incorporated non-profit organization, and has affiliated with the Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS) as a member club. Morison is joined on the founding Board of Directors by Jorge Dascollas, Martin Burnley, Chris Kremer, and Warwick Patterson.

Canadian rally fans will surely know that the Critérium du Québec was a rally competition that was part of the World Rally Championship from 1977 to 1979. Critérium du Québec was Canada's second WRC event after the Rally of the Rideau Lakes, which was part of the calendar in 1974.

Other will also remember that in 2014 Canadian “Crazy Leo” Urlichich drove a works M-Sport Fiesta R2 rally car in five rounds of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship in the WRC3 category as part of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy.

“We started looking at this idea in 2011. Recently things have started coming together and we think this is the right time to put a real effort into making this idea a reality,” said Morison.

Oliver Ciesla, WRC Promoter GmbH Managing Director, said: “We welcome the formation of this organization to further explore the opportunities for a WRC event in Canada, and look forward to working with them to pursue all possible options together for an exciting future.

“WRC Promoter and the FIA have long stated their desire to expand the global impact of the WRC by increasing the number of events outside of Europe. Canada is, in particular, of great interest to the WRC, its car manufacturer-backed teams, and commercial partners. It offers the WRC further access to the North American market and can provide a new sporting challenge and competition environment.”

The project expects a five-year build-up to the first FIA WRC event, and has several hurdles to clear before the event plans are finalized. Possible locations of the rally have not been mentioned yet, but sources say it would be in Ontario or Québec, and it would be a winter rally.

Another source adds that a Canadian rally would not take the place of an existing event, but would be a new one added to the calendar, most probably early in the season.

 

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