Following the World Rally Championship over the last few years has been basically impossible with respect to TV. There were snippets available here and there, but watching a race was an occasional treat that meant you were either up half the night or before the roosters.

Race fans, your prayers have been answered. Discovery Channel’s HD Theater channel will be airing all the events for the 2009/2010 season.

This is a double win, because they’ll begine airing races in the fall and run them through the winter, during the motorsports dearth here in North America. Even if you’re not a huge rally fan, it’ll at least give you some great motorized entertainment when you’re freezing your tail off.

Here’s the release from WRC:

Television coverage of the FIA World Rally Championship will be available to millions of households in the USA later this year thanks to a new partnership between series promoters, ISC, and the Discovery Channel’s HD Theater network.

WRC programming will be shown weekly on HD Theater starting in October. As well as coverage from every round of the championship, a range of other features and news bulletins will be shown.

Part of the Discovery Channel’s range of networks, HD Theater is one of the most widely distributed high-definition services available in the United States. Specialising in adventure, technology, nature and world culture programming, HD Theater also covers a number of racing events, all of which are shown in a 1080i picture format and with 5.1 digital surround sound.

“This is tremendous news for the championship and our fans in the United States,” said Simon Long, ISC CEO. “It is a ground breaking deal which means the WRC has a high-profile broadcast presence in the United States via a hugely-respected, quality and innovative partner in Discovery Communication’s HD Theater,”

“We’re looking forward to the opportunity to take the WRC to an ever wider audience in the significant U.S. market, and working with HD Theater to bring more attention to what we firmly believe is an ‘epic motorsport adventure by the world’s greatest drivers,’” he added.

Clark Bunting, president and general manager of HD Theater, said: “HD Theater has been a pioneer in high-definition programming and we are excited to introduce the FIA World Rally Championships to our American audience. This year we’ve seen the action go from the snow-covered roads of Norway to the hairpin turns climbing the Cordobese Sierras of Argentina, and the adrenaline-fuelled rally action will shine in high-definition.”