The 2026 edition introduces a spectacular new headquarters of over 1,000 square metres inside the Salone delle Fontane. Rally HQ, Race Control, Media Centre and service park will all be located within the same area, placing Rome firmly at the centre of the event.
Picture from Red Bull Content Pool
Rome, March 16th, 2026 – Four months ahead of the Rally di Roma Capitale 2026, Motorsport Italia annunces a major logistical change for the event scheduled from 3 to 5 July. The operational centre of the rally will move to Rome’s EUR district, where the new headquarters of the FIA European Rally Championship and Campionato Italiano Assoluto Rally Sparco round will be based.
Rally HQ and the Media Centre will be located inside the Salone delle Fontane, a monumental building and a symbol of EUR’s rationalist architecture. The venue will host an operational structure covering more than 1,000 square metres, one of the largest and most comprehensive rally facilities ever created for a motorsport event. It will accommodate the organisation, race officials, teams and media within a highly functional and top-level logistical environment.
The service park will be established just a short walk from the Salone delle Fontane, creating an efficient logistical system. The entire operational area will be perfectly integrated within one of the most representative districts of the Italian capital. This unprecedented logistical effort will give the Rally di Roma Capitale a new, innovative and visually striking dimension.
For the event created by Max Rendina, the new layout represents a further step in the evolution of the rally, particularly in view of the presence of FIA observers who will attend the event in Rome to assess it as part of the process leading to the definition of FIA World Rally Championship calendar for 2027.
This exceptional logistical transformation has been made possible thanks to the cooperation of the Department for Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion of Roma Capitale, together with the essential support of Regione Lazio, the Automobile Club d’Italia and ACI Sport. The event also benefits from the patronage of the Italian Ministry for Sport and Youth, Sport e Salute and the CONI. A key role will also be played by the local Police of Roma Capitale, which will ensure crucial support in managing safety and mobility within the urban context of a city that this year will host the rally at its very core.
The organisational scale of Rally di Roma Capitale 2026 reflects the international profile of the event and its continuous growth. The rally involves a staff of more than 1.000 people, a figure expected to increase with the new centralised layout. According to data from the FIA ERC promoter, the event attracts an average of more than 250.000 spectators, over 120.000 per day, and generates a global television audience exceeding 500 million cumulative viewers across free-to-air and on-demand platforms. Social media reach exceeds 1 billion impressions with around 90 million interactions.
The impact on Rome and the territories crossed by the rally represents the real added value of the event, transforming international exposure into qualified tourism inflow, strengthening destination awareness and generating long-term visitor flows, with a significant increase in repeat tourism.
For the first time, the service park will host a dedicated Fan Zone, designed following the model of fan areas seen at major circuit racing events. The aim is to further expand the public experience and spectator engagement. Within the area, fans will be able to observe the work of the teams at close range and take part in a wide range of activities designed for families, enthusiasts and newcomers alike. These will include a kart track, conceived both as an educational activity for younger visitors and as an entertainment attraction for all ages. The Fan Zone will become the centre of the side activities accompanying the rally, including road safety awareness initiatives, educational projects and entertainment programmes.
From a sporting perspective, the 2026 itinerary has the support of all the municipalities involved along the rally route. This year the rally will focus particularly on the Rieti area, with special stages also selected in view of the FIA observation process and the intention to introduce and evaluate new sections. This decision reflects the current phase of growth of the event and does not alter the long-term territorial project developed over the years. Within the medium-term development plan, a return to the Ciociaria region is already planned for 2027, a territory that has played a decisive role in the sporting success of the Rally di Roma Capitale and remains an integral part of its identity.
