FIA Includes Croatia Rally in WRC Calendar for Two More Years!

Thanks to the successful organization of the Croatia Rally, held last week, the WRC and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) have offered a fixed contract for at least two more years in which the Croatia Rally would be included in the World Rally Championship calendar.

“This kind of world event is a great opportunity to extend the tourist season and a fantastic promotion of Croatia around the world. I hope that everyone will recognize this, from institutions to the corporate sector, and help us organize the race in Croatia in the coming years. We got a chance; it would be crazy to lose it and miss it,” points out the Croatia Rally Organizing Committee president, Daniel Šaškin, who exclusively confirmed the news on the TV show Otvoreno.

Behind Croatia is a spectacular sports weekend. The best rally drivers of today showed their skills through 20 speed tests on 300 kilometers of local roads in Karlovac, Krapina-Zagorje, and Zagreb counties and the City of Zagreb. The sports spectacle and recordings from Croatia toured 150 countries worldwide, and more than 200 foreign journalists and camerapeople visited Croatia, which is the largest number of world media that were present live at a sporting event in Croatia.

FIA president Jean Todt / Luka Stanzl / PIXSELL

Despite a challenging year with many restrictions due to the current pandemic, the organization of the rally, which was the main topic in Croatia and beyond this weekend, was praised by drivers, teams, journalists, and many auto racing fans who, despite calls to watch the race on small screens, gathered along the tracks on which the speed tests were driven.

The figures related to the event next year could be far more impressive because holding a competition with spectators brings many times greater benefits through the generated consumption in Croatia.

An example is Portugal, which 930 thousand spectators visit during the WRC, generating spending of 70 million euro. The value of the promotion since the World Rally Championship for Portugal is estimated at 75 million euro.