The Portugal Rally will not take place in 2027, says the Mayor of Viseu, a city that would serve as a test base. It was known that he was excluded from the World Rally World Championship (WRC).
© Lusa
30/09/2026
by
Lusa
A news appeared unexpectedly: the Rali de Portugal did not take place in the World Rally (WRC) in 2027. And the event will not take place, according to the Mayor of Viseu – city that should be the nerve center of the rally next year.
“No. There is no Rali from Portugal. There is the European Rally, which is in the Azores. There are classifications, eventually a calendar that may exist at various points of the country, small rallyes, but there is no Rali of Portugal, there is another type of classification”, says João Azevedo, referring to the possibility that the test will not take place next year, after having been informed by the ACP on Tuesday that the Rally did not integrate the World calendar in 2027.
The leader maintained that “the day before [Tuesday], the ACP was in Viseu to inform” the president that “the Portugal Rally did not happen this year in Portugal, which went to another part of the world“.
Rally Portugal happens outside the WRC? “No, that’s objective”
Asked whether the race would take place in the event, regardless of whether it was part of the World Championship calendar (WRC), the mayor said that “no, this is objective” and “there is no doubt about it”.
In February, the mayor announced that Viseu would have a proof rating and would be the logistic basis of the motor race and, on Tuesday, the ACP reported in a statement that the Rally of Portugal would stay off the calendar.
Amazing distance
“Last minute change force interval in the presence of one of the most emblematic rallyes of the world championship, admitting return in 2028′′, could be read in the note sent by the ACP.
After reading the document, which does not clarify the realization in 2027 of the Rally of Portugal, the mayor did not assume whether the city will remain the basis of the proof, if it takes place next year without counting the World Cup, but that, if it is reinstated in 2028, “Viseu will be, of course”.
João Azevedo today told journalists that Viseu “did not make any financial investment, was human, work, that is, the teams worked very hard on this project”, namely those of the House and the organizations, he said.
“ It has been many hours of work and, more than that, it is the damage to the country and the country must react to this. And I challenge the country that is to find an alternative solution for the central region,” he said.
The mayor said that today, “the Algarve has a great sporting event, which is Formula 1, the Red Bull will be in the North” and, therefore, will already have transmitted this concern to the President of Tourism of the Centre of Portugal to “quickly find a solution, not for Viseu, but for the central region to be able to mitigate this situation”.
“Major damage to the country”
The Mayor of Viseu considered that this departure from the WRC is “a huge loss to the country”, remembering that it was “a decision made on the last day”.
The ACP also reveals that, although there is a date for next year, between 13 and 16 May, “fruit of changes made by the promoter on the last day of the preparation of the next season of the WRC, with the aim of making it geographically as diverse and intercontinental as possible, Vodafone Rally de Portugal was one of the events whose timing was affected”.
In the statement, the body adds that it has already maintained “the first conversations between the Automobile Club of Portugal and the promoter of the WRC aimed at assessing the possibility of Vodafone Rally de Portugal joining the World Rally in 2028”.
The end of 17 years of Worlds presence
First held in 1967, the Portugal Rally joined the WRC since its creation in 1973, the year in which it was the third proof of the calendar.
Over the decades, it has been said to be one of the most recognized events of the sport, having been elected five times as the best rally in the world.
Between 2002 and 2006 he was absent from the WRC, returning in 2007 with a disputed edition in the Algarve. Since 2009, it has remained unbroken on the world calendar under ACP organisation.