A step in a joint bid by several partners including Aberdeen City Council to host the prestigious World Rally Championships in the North East has been agreed.
The FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) is a globally recognised motorsport series and Motorsport UK, in partnership with EventScotland and the WRC Promoter, has identified the North East of Scotland as a preferred host location for a UK round of the WRC for an initial three-year period (2027–2029). The event would be headquartered at P&J Live in Aberdeen, with stages across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, and Moray.
Aberdeen City Council’s Finance and Resources committee today (6 November 2025) approved that the Council would enter a Memorandum of Understanding with Motorsport UK which will allow it to submit an application to host the World Rally Championships in the city and wider region.
Committee convener Councillor Alex McLellan said: “Aberdeen City Council is committed to securing Scotland’s place in the World Rally Championship’s calendar from 2027 which has the potential to bring a huge boost to the local and regional economy.
“Major events, like the World Rally Championships, provide the opportunity to showcase Aberdeen to the world as a place people want to live, work, study and do business.”
Council Co-Leader Councillor Ian Yuill said: “It would be very exciting to bring the prestigious World Rally Championships to the area.
“There are a lot of Rally fans in the region and across the world so it would be a popular event, particularly on the back of the successful Tall Ships where the city showed the world what we have to offer.”
In order to submit a bid, Motorsport UK is seeking the agreement of funding and support from all partners in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding. Aberdeenshire Council, Moray Council and the Scottish Government have also been approached for funding and are considering the opportunity. The Scottish Government recognises that local authority funding would be contingent on Scottish Government funding being agreed.
The report to committee said the other councils and the Scottish Government will now consider their part in the funding over the next few weeks for agreement for the Memorandum of Understanding.
The indicative ask is £1million per year for three years, shared between Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, and Moray Councils. This share may not be equal but dependent on the weighting of economic benefit to each Council from hosting the event. The preferred funding mechanism is the Visitor Levy. External funding and sponsorship will be sought for maximising community involvement.
The financial ask from Motorsport UK from the Council over three years will be between £1.2m and £1.5m depending on the final agreement and there is a direct ask of staff time to contribute to working groups.
