Rally Trans Itapúa
| Rally Trans Itapúa | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Motorsporting event |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Country | Paraguay |
| Inaugurated | 1981 |
The Rally Trans Itapua, is an international rallying event based in Encarnación, Itapúa Department in south-east Paraguay. The event is the opening round of the Codasur South American Rally Championship and a round of the Paraguayan Championship, the Campeonato Nacional Paraguayo.
The event was first run in 1981 and ran only briefly until 1983 as political instability swept Paraguay. Upon restarting the event in 1989, the event has run continuously since then apart from a brief rest in 2004–05.
Paraguayan drivers have won every event, even after the influx of international drivers of recent years. In particular the Galanti brothers have dominated the event. Alejandro Galanti has won the event seven times between 1998 and 2012 while older brother Marquito Galanti has taken four wins. All eleven victories were in Toyotas, spanning Group A, WRC and most recently Super 2000 technical regulations cars. 2008 saw Paraguay's first CODASUR champion Victor Galeano win the event. In 2013 triple Codasur champion Gustavo Saba finally broke through for a popular win at his home event.
Paragua is set to hold an WRC event from 2025 after signing a multi-year deal.[1] The new rally called Rally del Paraguay is based in Rally Trans Itapúa and the first edition was held in September 2024 as a trial for the WRC debut in August 2025.
List of winners
Sourced in part from:[2]
| Year | Winner | Car |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Santiago Silguero | Datsun 160J |
| 1982 | Santiago Silguero | Datsun 160J |
| 1983 | Juan Viveros | Datsun 160J |
| 1984–1988 not held | ||
| 1989 | Alfredo Scheid | Volkswagen Golf 2.0 |
| 1990 | Eduardo Elizeche | Volkswagen Golf 1.6 |
| 1991 | Orlando Penner | Volkswagen Golf 1.8 |
| 1992 | Pedro Fadul | Volkswagen Golf 1.8 |
| 1993 | Orlando Penner | Volkswagen Golf 1.8 |
| 1994 | Orlando Penner | Volkswagen Golf 2.0 |
| 1995 | Marquito Galanti | Toyota Celica GT-Four |
| 1996 | Marquito Galanti | Toyota Celica GT-Four |
| 1997 | Marquito Galanti | Toyota Celica GT-Four |
| 1998 | Alejandro Galanti | Toyota Celica GT-Four |
| 1999 | Marquito Galanti | Toyota Corolla WRC |
| 2000 | Alejandro Galanti | Toyota Celica GT-Four |
| 2001 | Francisco Gorostiaga | Toyota Corolla WRC |
| 2002 | Francisco Gorostiaga | Toyota Corolla WRC |
| 2003 | Francisco Gorostiaga | Toyota Corolla WRC |
| 2004–2005 not held | ||
| 2006 | Alejandro Galanti | Toyota Corolla WRC |
| 2007 | Alejandro Galanti | Toyota Corolla WRC |
| 2008 | Victor Galeano | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX |
| 2009 | Alejandro Galanti | Toyota Corolla S2000 |
| 2010 | Alejandro Galanti | Toyota Corolla S2000 |
| 2011 | Tiago Weiler | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX |
| 2012 | Alejandro Galanti | Toyota Corolla S2000 |
| 2013 | Gustavo Saba | Škoda Fabia S2000 |
| 2014 | Diego Domínguez | Ford Fiesta R5 |
| 2015 | Gustavo Saba | Škoda Fabia S2000 |
| 2016 | Diego Domínguez | Ford Fiesta R5 |
| 2017 | Marcos Ligato | Škoda Fabia R5 |
| 2018 | Diego Domínguez | Hyundai i20 R5 |
| 2019 | Diego Domínguez | Hyundai i20 R5 |
| 2020 | cancelled for COVID-19 pandemic | |
| 2021 | Gustavo Saba | Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 |
| 2022 | Diego Domínguez | Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 |
| 2023 | Fabrizio Zaldivar | Hyundai i20 N Rally2 |
| 2024 | Agustín Alonso | Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 |
References
- ^ Lindsay, Alasdair (23 June 2024). "Paraguay joins WRC calendar from 2025". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ "El Rally Trans Itapúa, una prueba con historia" [The Rally Trans Itapua, a test with history] (PDF). rally.com.py (in Spanish). Campeonato Nacional Paraguayo. 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-22.