Rally Chile Bio Bío will feature a substantially revised route when the World Rally Championship arrives in the country next month, with almost 40% of the course made up of sections not previously used by the championship, organisers announced at the event’s official launch in Santiago.
The event, scheduled for September 10 to 13, will mark Chile’s fifth appearance on the WRC calendar and the 12th round of the 2026 championship season. Based out of Concepción in the Biobío region, the rally will cover 16 special stages totalling 311.70 kilometres, part of an overall route spanning around 1,177.61 kilometres.
The biggest changes fall on Friday, when the entire three-stage loop has been reworked compared with 2025. Turquía, at 22.94 kilometres, draws on roads previously used for the San Rosendo stage but will be driven in the opposite direction with added sections, while Nuevo Rere reverses the former Rere test and Hualqui begins from what was previously the finish area of the Pulpería stage. Each of Friday’s three stages will be run twice.
Saturday returns to a more familiar format, with the established Pelún, Lota and María Las Cruces stages repeated across a three-stage loop. Sunday brings another change, with Carampangue, a 26.82-kilometre test that featured in May’s Rally de Arauco, making its WRC debut in place of the previous Laraquete stage and being driven twice. The Biobío stage, covering 8.78 kilometres, remains in place and will host the rally-ending Wolf Power Stage. The event’s shakedown test has also moved for 2026, relocating to a new route closer to the Concepción service park.
Organisers also highlighted the rally’s economic impact on the region, citing a study presented in Concepción that found a return of CLP6.4 for every peso invested in the event.