Error code: %{errorCode}
WRC drivers to race on basketball court at Rally Islas Canarias
It’s not often that the worlds of basketball and motorsport collide, but that is exactly what will happen this weekend at the World Rally Championship.
The WRC loves to bring the action to the fans through carefully constructed super special stages that allow fans the best opportunity to get up close and personal with rally cars driven by their heroes from a safe distance.
In the past, the WRC has held stages inside major sporting stadiums in front of thousands of fans, most notably in Greece’s Olympic Stadium in 2022 and Japan’s Toyota Stadium last year. When the championship visited Greece last year, a stage was held in a motorway service station that briefly closed a major highway for an evening.
But this weekend at Rally Islas Canarias, the super special stage will go to a new level with cars travelling through a basketball court arena to close out the action on Saturday night.
The 1.80km Las Palmas de Gran Canaria stage sees the crews tackle a closed road section in the Las Palmas city centre, featuring tight chicanes and slalom sections before drivers burst into a closed roof basketball court arena where they will slide across the court completing a donut before exiting the arena on their way to the finish.
It is certainly among the strangest of section witnessed in the WRC. However, crews are already relishing competing in front of packed crowds as the Canary Islands welcome the WRC for the first time.
“The spectators here is what you come too expect when you come to Spain, they have so much passion for rally and already on my test there were hundreds of people, it was really cool to see,” said leading WRC2 runner Oliver Solberg.
“I think [the basketball court stage] is great because we can do donuts. I think it will bring an extra show and new element for the fans.”
While the stage offers an opportunity for the fans, M-Sport’s Josh McErlean says driving on a basketball court won’t be easy.
“It is quite unusual. I think to be in that stadium with a Rally1 car going around and doing donuts is going to create some atmosphere. The actual surface in there is like glass so you can definitely make a show of yourself if you are not careful.
“It is going to be a tricky stage, there are lots of obstacles and lots of stage side furniture that you can easily clip, and its is the last stage of the day. It will be a nice show for everyone.”
Watch 2025 World Rally Championship on DAZN
The 2025 World Rally Championship is available through DAZN on its own dedicated app channel, Rally TV.
It is available either as a dedicated Rally TV subscription, or as part of your existing DAZN subscription for a small add-on fee.
DAZN is the home of Rally TV worldwide, excluding Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, China, Hong Kong and Japan.
Rally TV also broadcasts every race from the European Rally Championship.
Watch every WRC and ERC race this year on DAZN's 24-hour dedicated Rally TV channel. For more information on prices, subscriptions and more, click here.
