The season will start on the icy tarmac roads in Monte Carlo from 21-24 January before rounds in the snow in Sweden and vast landscapes of Safari Rally Kenya.

Three tarmac events in a row then take place in Croatia, the Canary Islands and Japan, before the Acropolis Rally in Greece.

The WRC’s Italian round moves from September to July, and will move from the gravel roads of Sardinia to tarmac in Rome.

The high-speed events in Estonia and Finland retain their back-to-back summer slots before the USA hosts its first WRC round in 39 years from 26-29 August.

The WRC last held a points-paying round in the USA at the Olympus Rally in 1988, and the championship will return as a gravel round after a successful candidate event in June.

Rally Scotland takes place in early October before a South American double-header, in Paraguay and Chile, and Rally Saudi Arabia round out the calendar.

The event in Saudi Arabia was set to end the 2026 season but it was cancelled due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Rally de Portugal will not feature in the 2027 calendar but is in talks to return in 2028.

The upcoming season will mark a new era of the sport with the introduction of a new promoter along with WRC27 regulations which will limit costs and reduce the horsepower of the top cars.

It will also mark the return of Ford as a manufacturer to the sport in a collaboration with the M-Sport banner.

2027 World Rally Championship calendar

Rallye Monte-Carlo 21-24 January

Rally Sweden 18-21 February

Safari Rally Kenya 18-21 March

Croatia Rally 8-11 April

Rally Islas Canarias 6-9 May

Rally Japan 3-6 June

Acropolis Rally Greece 24-27 June

Rally Italia Roma 8-11 July

Rally Estonia 22-25 July

Rally Finland 29 July-1 August

Rally US 26-29 August

Rally Scotland 30 September-3 October

Rally del Paraguay 21-24 October

Rally Chile 4-7 October

Rally Saudi Arabia 25-28 November

Scanlon was full of compliments for Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy, who helped the club secure promotion from League One in 2025-26 at the first time of asking.

“Everyone knows how good a coach he is, his tactics, how he wants to play football, it’s brilliant to be a part of,” said Scanlon.

“But he’s also a brilliant man-manager, he has a relationship with all the players. When you’re out on the pitch you want to play for him.

“Whoever you speak to will have positives to say about him.”

Barry-Murphy has turned Cardiff into an attacking, possession-based team, with the Bluebirds having registered more shots than any other team in the Championship through eight games.

“How Liverpool play, it’s very similar to how Cardiff play. Both clubs are very intense in what they do, everyone leaves 100% out on the field,” added Scanlon.

“That’s what I’ve noticed coming in here, just how similar it is. I enjoy training in both environments, but the one thing I recognise is how intense it is.

“Obviously there are differences, but it is not miles apart in terms of what we’re trying to get out of training.”