Evans Set to Become WRC Champion as Rally Saudi Arabia Is Cancelled
The Saudi WRC round was cancelled after team travel concerns and regional unrest, ending the 14-round season a round early, the FIA said.
- On Thursday, the FIA announced that Italy's Rally Sardinia will replace Saudi Arabia as the 2026 World Rally Championship season finale due to the situation in the Middle East.
- Toyota and Hyundai communicated to the FIA that team members could not travel to Saudi Arabia due to company-wide safety policies, which was originally scheduled as the 14th round for 11-14 November.
- M-Sport-Ford had been prepared to travel until the British foreign office updated its advice on Wednesday, advising against parts of Saudi Arabia. The FIA had explored all options to allow the event to proceed.
- The season will conclude early at Rally Sardinia on 1-4 October, rejecting speculation that Rally Catalunya in Spain could fill the vacancy. The WRC element remains cancelled while the event continues as part of The FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
- Welshman Elfyn Evans leads Toyota teammate Sami Pajari in the title race and is positioned to become Britain's first World Rally Championship winner since Richard Burns in 2001.
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Evans set to become WRC champion as Rally Saudi Arabia is cancelled
The FIA has confirmed that the 2026 World Rally Championship season finale in Saudi Arabia has been cancelled and will not be replaced - so Rally Sardinia is now the last round.Saudi Arabia was due to host its rally on 11-14 November, but it was among many motorsport events in the Middle East facing uncertainty amid the ongoing conflict in the region.This decision follows weeks of ...Keep reading
The FIA has announced that the Saudi Arabia round in November will not be included in the FIA World Championship and no replacement will be found. The final round of the season will be the Sardinia round in early October.
It is not safe to hold an international competition in the Middle East due to the war between the US and Iran.
There will be no racing in Saudi Arabia this year.
November's Saudi Rally, which was supposed to be the final round of the 14th round of the World Rally Championship, will not take place due to the situation in the Middle East. The championship will now culminate in Sardinia in October, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the WRC promoter have announced.
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