Portugal to miss WRC 2027 despite date confirmation

Portugal will be absent from the 2027 World Rally Championship calendar despite having a date set for next year’s event, according to rally organisers Automovel Club de Portugal (ACP). The gravel event is one of the founding members of the WRC and has hosted a round since the inaugural season in 1973, except for a brief hiatus from 2002 to 2006.

In 2025, organisers agreed to a new three-year deal ensuring the event would feature on the WRC calendar until at least 2028. Although the WRC has not yet released its 2027 calendar, the rally was scheduled to host a championship round from May 13 to 16, 2027, at a new location. However, on September 29, the ACP announced that the event would drop off the schedule next year but confirmed that talks are underway for a possible return in 2028.

The ACP stated: “Already with a date scheduled between May 13 and 16, as a result of changes made by the promoter on the last day of preparation for the next season of the World Rally Championship (WRC), with the aim of making it as geographically diverse and intercontinental as possible, the Vodafone Rally Portugal was one of the tests whose scheduling was affected.

The first discussions have already taken place between the Automóvel Club de Portugal and the promoter of the WRC to assess the possibility of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal re-integrating the World Rally in 2028.”

The WRC is in the final stages of confirming its 2027 calendar, which could feature three new locations including Rome, Scotland, and the USA.