Photograph Courtesy Subaru
Chattanooga may be best known for its numerous outdoor activities, so perhaps it’s fitting that the World Rally Championship could use the location for a 2024 return to U.S. soil–specifically, the winding gravel roads of the Cherokee National Forest.
According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the Chattanooga Tourism Co. has been pushing to bring rally to the area for more than year: "We want to reintroduce international rally racing … and we need to get the U.S. back in this competition," explained Barry White, president of the Chattanooga Tourism Co.
Currently, the plan is to hold a few test runs sometime in the near future. If those prove successful, then a demonstration rally is planned for April 7-8, followed by an official test race in September. If everything goes well, the rally will mark the first WRC event in the United States in over 35 years.
I've been hearing rumblings of running old moonshine roads for rally USA and there has been some more KY/TN events popping up so this is interesting. If I can't compete in it I would definitely volunteer or watch because I don't know when this is coming back. I thought it may have been the Bristol TN event but its too new and not enough stage miles for a WRC event.
Should be interesting, this topic comes up annually it seems but this one has more meat on the bones than the others...
Oh, please. I have friends in Chattanooga.
Yes please.
I'd fly to Tennessee to see WRC.
how do the numbers work out to ship all the cars , crew and spares over for one race ?
Will they also have a Canada or Mexico race ?
That would be awesome if it actually happens!
In reply to californiamilleghia :
They still do a Mexico round, but I don't think they bother to save the air miles because there's usually a South American round later in the year.
In reply to californiamilleghia :
they do that all over the world anyways. This weekend is Mexico and the next event is Croatia in April. Chile is at the end of the year and those are the only 2 WRC rounds in the western hemisphere.
I don't even want to think about the absurdity of costs involved in the logistics of WRC.
It's no wonder teams aren't exactly clamoring for North American stages, and likewise why we don't see much across the pond development of drivers or teams.
In reply to pheller :
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