WRC Returns to Scotland in 2027 as Evans Wins Title
Elfyn Evans is world rally champion. The Welshman sealed the title in Sardinia after rival Oliver Solberg crashed at the end of the final stage, becoming the first driver from the UK to lift the crown in 25 years, BBC Sport reported.
He will get to defend it at home. The FIA World Rally Championship will return to the United Kingdom in 2027 with WRC Rally Scotland, ending an absence that stretches back to 2019, WRC confirmed.
Rallying is a race against the clock. Crews tackle timed tests on closed roads, called stages, with the fastest total time winning. Scotland will be a gravel event in Aberdeenshire, forming the 12th round of an expanded 15-event calendar.
The event will be based in Aberdeen, with stages running across Aberdeenshire and Moray, according to the FIA. It is listed for early October. The BBC report puts it at 3-7 October in its text, although its published calendar table gives 30 September to 3 October.
Scotland is one of two new rallies for 2027. The other is the USA, which will host its first WRC round in 39 years on 26-29 August. The championship last paid points in America at the Olympus Rally in 1988.
The 2027 season will start with Rallye Monte-Carlo on 21-24 January. Rally de Portugal drops off the list for next year but is in talks to return in 2028.
Scotland earned its place through the forests. The Grampian Forest Rally, a round of the British Rally Championship, served as the candidate event for the WRC bid, WRC said. Candidate means inspectors visit, check roads, safety and organisation, and then decide if it is fit for the world stage.
For fans, this means proper forest rallying back in Britain. Fast gravel tracks through the pines. Big crowds tucked behind the tape. Evans arriving as champion, on roads he knows well, in front of a home crowd that has waited eight years for this.
