Western Australia’s state & Clubman rally scene is entering 2026 retaining a six-round championship. The forest-special staple of events remains, while re-ordering the middle of the year and shifting a couple of headline dates. The 2026 WA Rally Championship calendar runs from April to October and features: a mid-April season opener, the Forest Rally in May, the Experts Cup in June, Karri Rally in July, Grimwade (Safari) in late August, and the Warren River Rally as the October closer.
The 2026 wa rally calendar (dates and rounds)
- Round 1 — April 11, 2026. (Listed as WARC Round 1; specific event name TBC
- Round 2 — Forest Rally Nannup, May 22–24, 2026. (Forest Rally is retained as the state’s biggest event and a round of the national championship as well)
- Round 3 — Experts Cup Collie, June 20, 2026. (Moved to a mid-June slot.)
- Round 4 — Karri Rally Manjimup, July 24–25, 2026. (Karri remains the Manjimup-area mid-winter gravel event.)
- Round 5 — Grimwade Rally Balingup August 29, 2026. (Often promoted as the “Safari in Grimwade”)
- Round 6 — Warren River Rally Pemberton, October 17, 2026. (The Pemberton-area event is scheduled late in the season as the finale.)
This six-round slate preserves the classic WA mix — fast flowing forest roads, technical country stages, and the Hard-Yakka of Grimwade. The order and timing compared with 2025 have been rearranged in ways that will affect a myriad of factors including championship momentum.
How 2026 differs from 2025 — the headline changes
1. A big reshuffle of round order
The most visible change is that several events have swapped places compared with the 2025 lineup. In 2025 the season opened in April and then moved into the Forest Rally in May, but the mid-season sequence after May was different. Grimwade and Karri were earlier in the middle months and the Experts Cup used to sit late in the year. The 2025 calendar shows a different ordering to what we’ll see in 2026. The 2026 calendar breaks that pattern by moving the Experts Cup well forward into June and pushing Warren River to the season finale slot in October.
Why that matters: round order affects championship narratives. A traditional “hard” event later in the year can decide titles. Moving the Experts Cup from the season-ending role into mid-June changes which crews will be fighting to recover or consolidate points immediately afterwards.
2. Experts Cup — a major date jump (Oct → June)
Perhaps the clearest single item: the Experts Cup has been moved from late October in 2025 to June 20, 2026. In 2025 the Experts Cup featured as the last round whereas 2026 places it squarely in mid-winter. This move has practical implications — teams will face cooler conditions and potentially wetter roads in June. This move takes the Experts back to its roots from a decade or more ago when it ran as a winter event.
October has proved to be drier and dustier with some competitors noting the roads not holding up so well without moisture. It’s also a strategic change for championship points — a traditionally decisive round has been repositioned into the season’s middle.
3. Warren River Rally moves to the season finale (Aug → Oct)
In 2025 the Warren River Rally appeared in the mid-season window which has seen very wet conditions in Pemberton. For 2026 the Warren River Rally is scheduled for October 17 and is listed as Round 6 — the season-closer. That’s a significant calendar role change: the event shifts from a mid-season battleground to the place where championship fights can be settled. Expect organisers, spectators and competitors to treat the October running as a big end-of-season showcase.
4. Grimwade (Safari) moves later in the year (June → August)
In 2025, Grimwade Stages was scheduled in June (for example, 21 June 2025 listings). For 2026 the Grimwade Safari is slotted to August 29, 2026, making it a late-winter / early-spring event in the season’s back half. This move can change the character of the event — August weather and daylight hours differ from June, and teams will plan different service windows and preparations.
5. Karri Rally — similar timing, small date tweak
Karri Rally remains the mid-winter Manjimup event in both years, but the specific weekend has shifted slightly: July 18–19, 2025 becomes July 24–25, 2026. It’s a small calendar shift, but for crews who plan logistics around back-to-back events it can matter for travel and car preparation timetables.
6. The opening round and the absence/renaming of one slot
In 2025 the opening round was the Winvale Stages (listed 12 April 2025 on early calendars). For 2026 the season still opens in mid-April — April 11, 2026 — but some listings show the Round 1 event as “TBC” or don’t publish a specific event name. That suggests either a renaming, a substitution of venues, or a completely new event.
Organisers often make changes from year-to-year for a variety of reasons. Local permissions, timber/forest access, weather and logistics are all commonly cited, so it’s not unusual. It is however, a difference that competitors will notice when planning championship strategies and confirming entries.
Practical consequences for teams and fans
- Championship strategy: With Experts Cup moved earlier and Warren River now the finale, championship points dynamics will change. Crews won’t be able to rely on the popular Experts Cup to salvage their season.
- Logistics & tyre choices: Date moves mean likely different weather. June vs October or August means different road surfaces and temperatures. Tyre selection, suspension setup and planning will have to be adapted accordingly.
- Spectator & team planning: Teams and fans who followed a particular mid-season rhythm in 2025 will need to adjust travel and accommodation bookings. Particularly true if they targeted the Forest/Grimwade/Karri swing. The season-closing Warren River in Pemberton should make for a big spectator weekend in the popular holiday town.
Final note
The 2026 WA Rally Championship keeps the region’s character. Country towns, forest stages and spectacular scenery. The timing and mix of the events though re-organises when those elements hit the calendar. For competitors, that means a new rhythm to the season; for fans, it promises a fresh set of narratives (and a showdown in Pemberton at the end of the season).
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