Longford native aiming to steer World Rally Championship back to Ireland

A Longford native, Aiden Harper, is at the helm of Motorsport Ireland as it bids to rejoin and host rounds of the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2025.

Ireland last hosted rounds of the WRC in 2007 and 2009 with the rally based out of Sligo town.
Late last year Motorsport Ireland announced they would be submitting an application to the motorsport governing body the FIA, to run rounds of the WRC in 2025, 2026 and 2027.

Last week in Motorsport Ireland (MI) headquarters, President Aiden Harper, who is from Edgeworthstown, outlined to invited guests the process involved in selecting the location for the potential rally.

Midland Motor club member and Rahara, Roscommon native Michael Murray (inset) competing in his Mitsubishi Evo with navigator Ray Fitzpatrick in 2007 when the WRC came to Ireland

A selection committee comprising of Motorsport Ireland officials and WRC promoter visited the three areas of the country selected by MI as potential hosts to run the event, Limerick Motor Club (Limerick racecourse), Kerry Motor Club (Munster Technology University) and an amalgamation of a number of clubs led by Waterford Motor club (Waterford City).
The essential criteria for the applicants was to have a service area of 10,000 sq metre together with an associated Rally HQ and media centre. The committee narrowed the applications from various motor clubs willing to host the event down to these clubs.

So having gone through each contender Mr Harper said there was nothing between each applicant in terms of commitment and suitability of each location and a decision was made to use all three motor clubs in rotating the three rounds between the clubs.

If successful, each club would get the opportunity to run a round in separate years between 2025, 2026 and 2027. The running of the events are contingent on Government funding of €15m over three years with an expected return of €100m each year to the community. It is estimated up to 150,000 spectators, many from overseas, would visit Ireland for the rally each year.

Mr Harper outlined, “The process to secure the rally here on these shores is underway at present and our bid to secure funding is currently under consideration by senior management in the major sports and events unit of the Department of tourism, culture, art, sport and media.”

Mr Harper went on to say “once the funding is secured, we will meet with all three groups to see if each has a preferred year and failing that we will operate a lottery system. None of this can happen without securing government funding. We have done it before, and we will do it again.”

Sebastian Loeb won both the 2007 and 2009 WRC rounds when they were last held in Ireland, Midland Motor club member and Rahara, Roscommon native Michael Murray competed in his Mitsubishi Evo with navigator Ray Fitzpatrick.