Indonesia Prepares To Host WRC 2026

The signing of the MoU for the WRC 2026 event in Jakarta, Wednesday, January 15, 2025. (VOI/Cosmas Kopong Beda).

JAKARTA Indonesia is preparing to host the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2026 or after 29 years of absence from holding this prestigious event.

The preparations began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between related parties at the Kemenpora Office on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at noon.

"Today we officially signed a cooperation agreement to officially explore the implementation of the Indonesian WRC series," said Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Dito Ariotedjo.

This collaboration involves the Indonesian Motor Association (IMI), the World Rally Championship, Kemenpora, and the Institute for Funds and Sports Business Management (LPDUK).

Dito said that apart from organizing the race, WRC was also present to bring a number of other programs to foster young Indonesian talents in the world of car racing.

"There are many programs for fostering the younger generation and discussing Indonesian children so that later they can internship in teams or car manufacturers who officially become WRC partners," he said.

WRC or the World Reli Championship is part of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). This is the world's second-largest car race, behind Formula 1.

Dito hopes that this event can have a significant impact on Indonesian tourism and the economy, especially in places that will be appointed as organizers later.

"We are also very happy because later in the World Rally Championship there will also be many local heroes, especially for Rally 2," said Dito.

The exact time from the WRC Indonesian series itself has not been announced. So far, there are only plans for the event to take place from Medan to Lake Toba in North Sumatra.