The City of Rovaniemi will not give money to organise the European Rally Championship in Lapland
They would have liked to organise the stage competition in conjunction with the Arctic Lapland Rally, or Tuntur Rally. AKK asked Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi for a grant of 200 000 and 100 000 euros respectively over three years.
Rovaniemi City Council decided on Monday not to enter into a cooperation agreement to organise ERC stage races in connection with the Arctic Lapland Rally, formerly known as the Tuntur Rally.
AKK Sports Oy has proposed cooperation with Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi to organise a series of races in the cities’ territories in 2026-2028.AKK Sports is the marketing company of AKK-Motorsport, the umbrella organisation of Finnish motorsport.
The European Championship Series (ERC) event would also include a special stage event, the Arctic Lapland Rally. It is held in Lapland every year in March.
AKK asked Rovaniemi for a grant of 200,000 euros and Kemijärvi for a grant of 100,000 euros over three years.
In addition, it wanted the cities to take care of, among other things, the pre- and post-renovation of special tests and parking areas, as well as provide facilities for the event.
AKK estimates that the event’s audience would be 8,000 people larger than the Tunturi rally alone, and the regional economic benefits would be 1.2 million euros larger.
AKK: No ERC rally – at least not in 2026
The organization of next year’s ERC rally will not be possible without official observation, i.e. an inspection visit during the Arctic Lapland Rally. According to Vainio, observation should not be done now, even for the coming years, because the reasons for Rovaniemi’s decision will prevent cooperation in the future as well.
– The financial situation is what it is. Don’t worry about it, we tried what we could.
The hill rally’s arrangements and cooperation with the city of Rovaniemi will continue as before.
Rovaniemi: The city cannot support the ERC rally
The Rovaniemi city government justified the refusal of the support by, among other things, that the Procurement Act and the EU’s state aid regulation limit support possibilities.
On the other hand, Rovaniemi does not consider additional irrigation for the winter season to be justified from the point of view of tourism or city strategy. The city wants to promote summer tourism in the first place.
In addition, the city government estimates that the regional economic effects of the ERC series would not be so much greater than the Arctic Lapland Rally event that it would be worth spending 600,000 euros over three years.