A proposed initial nine rallies have been put forward by WRC Promotor for the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship after being approved at the FIA World Rally Championship Commission in Paris on 12 May.

The nine rounds announced so far are as follows:

Monte-Carlo (21 – 24 January)

Sweden (12 – 14 February)

Argentina (Date TBC)

Australia (Date TBC)

Finland (Date TBC)

Italy (Date TBC)

Mexico (Date TBC)

Poland (Date TBC)

Spain (Date TBC)

All nine rounds are subject to a satisfactory running in 2015 and while they have been agreed by the commission they will still need ratification from the World Motor Sport Council.

The early announcement of the rallies is set to help planning for 2016 and despite some key rallies such as Wales Rally GB being left off the initial proposal there will be further announcements later this year with a view to finalise the calendar by September at the latest.

“WRC is unlike other FIA world championship in that it begins in January and so we have the luxury to select the dates for Rallye Monte-Carlo and Rally Sweden in the knowledge there will be no conflicts.” said WRC Promoter managing director Oliver Ciesla.

“It’s a conscious decision that allows all nine events to start planning and making preparations as soon as possible, and we look forward to final approval of these rallies by the WMSC,” he said.

“We also have exciting proposals on the table from countries not currently on the calendar and discussions have started with a view to bringing at least one, and perhaps two, of those events onto next year’s calendar.

“However, we will most likely aim to maintain the same number of rounds in the championship,” added Ciesla.