The Rally of Poland (in
Polish, ''Rajd Polski'') is a
motorsport
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
event for
rally cars that was first established in 1921. It is third-oldest rally in the world, preceded only by
Ă–sterreichische Alpenfahrt and
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...
. The event became a permanent fixture of the
European Rally Championship in 1960, except for a few editions held as part of the
World Rally Championship.
In
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
, the Rally of Poland was the one of the thirteen rounds of newly established World Rally Championship, but was removed from the
1974 calendar. After a move to
Mikołajki
Mikołajki () is a resort town in Mrągowo County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in north-eastern Poland, with 3,852 inhabitants as of 2017. The town is located near the Śniardwy, the largest lake of both the Masurian Lake District an ...
in the
Masurian Lake District in 2005, event organisers started lobbying for the event's inclusion as a round of the World Rally Championship. After being run as a candidate event in 2007 and 2008, Poland returned to the World Rally Championship in
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, which was won by
Mikko Hirvonen. However, the event was once again removed from the WRC after a single season, and was replaced by
Rally Bulgaria
Rally Bulgaria (Рали България) is the most prestigious and also the oldest rally event in Republic of Bulgaria. It was confirmed for the 2010 World Rally Championship season as the seventh of all thirteen planned events. Year 2010 w ...
.
During the
2012 season, the FIA put forward a tender for new events, and after a delay of one year, considered events in
Brazil,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
India,
Russia,
South Africa and
Poland for inclusion on the
2014 season calendar. The Rally of Poland was the successful candidate, and returned to the championship in 2014. The proposed route featured stages in nearby
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, in a format similar to the
Rally of Sweden, which crosses over the border into
Norway.
It was removed from the calendar after the
2017 season after the FIA repeatedly raised concerns about the event's safety.
Rally winners
†— Rally was part of the
World Rally Championship.
Multiple winners
References
External links
Official website
{{World rallies
Poland
Recurring sporting events established in 1921
Poland