Portugal’s future in WRC secured for another three seasonsA mainstay of the FIA World Rally Championship since its inception, Vodafone Rally de Portugal is confirmed to remain on the WRC calendar through to 2028.Written by WRC2 min readPublished on 22.05.2025 · 12:59 UTC
Following another hugely successful edition this past weekend (15–18 May), which attracted hundreds of thousands of fans and reaffirmed its status as a bucket-list sporting event, Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP) and WRC Promoter have confirmed the rally’s inclusion on the 2026, 2027 and 2028 WRC calendars.“This is very good news for the organisation and for all the mayors who trust us to bring this fantastic rally to the interior of the country, for the fans and for the economy” said ACP President Carlos Barbosa. “The confidence of WRC Promoter is also very important, so we are very glad to push for another three years of the rally.”
“We only need to look around us here [in Fafe, on the Wolf Power Stage] to see what an important spectacle this is"Simon Larkin“It involves a lot of different stakeholders – municipalities and tourism bodies – that really support this event and make it what it is. President Barbosa does a great job bringing them together to create this great rally that everyone in the WRC loves.”A founding round of the WRC’s inaugural season in 1973, Portugal has featured in the championship every year since – with the exception of a brief hiatus between 2002 and 2006. Over this time, it has built a reputation as one of the toughest competitive challenges of the year, with stages such as Fafe and Arganil rating among the world’s greatest. Today, the rally is based in Matosinhos in Portugal’s north-west and continues to attract crowds in the hundreds of thousands.