WRC: Rally of Portugal seeks new location

Rally of Portugal organizers are working on a plan to move the event north for next season, despite a successful Algarve event last week.

Officials are touring 14 regions in the north of the country this week, trying to secure finance for the 2015 event.

A source close to the rally, which has been housed in Faro since its World Rally Championship return in 2007, told AUTOSPORT: "We are making a roadshow this week. We will tour the north meeting with 14 different mayors to see if they are interested and have the money to bring the rally back to the north. We want to take it back.

"We would not base the event from Porto, there is not support there, but it would be north of Lisbon."

The north of the country is rallying's traditional heartland in Portugal, a fact underlined by the 100,000-strong crowd at the Fafe Rally Sprint a week ahead of the comparatively less well-supported WRC qualifier.

The only concern is over the spectator-control problems that occurred when the rally was previously based in the region. However, AUTOSPORT's source was confident that wouldn't be an issue, adding: "We would control them, there would be no problem."