2020 Rally Chile canceled and postponed to 2021

The 2019 World Rally Championship calendar (WRC) will be reduced by one test. The trip to Chile, initially scheduled for April 16 to 19, was canceled and postponed to 2021 in consultation with the authorities and organizers. 

Gonzalo Concha, the director of rally South American, explained to the national media La Tercera that “Good decisions are those that are made on time. Today we understand that the country is in a special situation. The (social) atmosphere next April will not combine with the atmosphere that will be necessary for the WRC. »

Indeed, Chile has been going through a serious social crisis since October 2019. The capital Santiago is the scene of numerous demonstrations, most of them violent, driven by social demands such as an increase in the minimum wage or the right to health and 'education.

In this context, the organization of a global sporting event obviously takes second place. Additionally, Chilean rally bosses noted that the month of April 2020 will see the holding of a referendum in order to revise the Constitution established under the Pinochet dictatorship.

Finally, on the financial level, the State recently withdrew an envelope of 1,2 million pesos, this sum now being dedicated to the repair and reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed during the demonstrations. 

The first edition of the Rally Chile, in spring 2019, saw the victory of Ott Tänak and Martin Järveojä (Toyota). L’épreuve avait ravi les concurrents et le public était venu en nombre, dans un emballement similaire au passionnés du Rallye d’Argentine.