Rally Trans Itapúa

Rally Trans Itapúa
StatusActive
GenreMotorsporting event
FrequencyAnnual
CountryParaguay
Inaugurated1981

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.

The rally is set to hold the WRC event from 2025 after signing a multi-year deal, meaning Paraguay would become the thirty-eighth nation to stage a WRC championship round.[1]

List of winners

Sourced in part from:[2]

Year Winner Car
1981 Paraguay Santiago Silguero Datsun 160J
1982 Paraguay Santiago Silguero Datsun 160J
1983 Paraguay Juan Viveros Datsun 160J
1984–1988 not held
1989 Paraguay Alfredo Scheid Volkswagen Golf 2.0
1990 Paraguay Eduardo Elizeche Volkswagen Golf 1.6
1991 Paraguay Orlando Penner Volkswagen Golf 1.8
1992 Paraguay Pedro Fadul Volkswagen Golf 1.8
1993 Paraguay Orlando Penner Volkswagen Golf 1.8
1994 Paraguay Orlando Penner Volkswagen Golf 2.0
1995 Paraguay Marquito Galanti Toyota Celica GT-Four
1996 Paraguay Marquito Galanti Toyota Celica GT-Four
1997 Paraguay Marquito Galanti Toyota Celica GT-Four
1998 Paraguay Alejandro Galanti Toyota Celica GT-Four
1999 Paraguay Marquito Galanti Toyota Corolla WRC
2000 Paraguay Alejandro Galanti Toyota Celica GT-Four
2001 Paraguay Francisco Gorostiaga Toyota Corolla WRC
2002 Paraguay Francisco Gorostiaga Toyota Corolla WRC
2003 Paraguay Francisco Gorostiaga Toyota Corolla WRC
2004–2005 not held
2006 Paraguay Alejandro Galanti Toyota Corolla WRC
2007 Paraguay Alejandro Galanti Toyota Corolla WRC
2008 Paraguay Victor Galeano Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2009 Paraguay Alejandro Galanti Toyota Corolla S2000
2010 Paraguay Alejandro Galanti Toyota Corolla S2000
2011 Paraguay Tiago Weiler Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2012 Paraguay Alejandro Galanti Toyota Corolla S2000
2013 Paraguay Gustavo Saba Škoda Fabia S2000
2014 Paraguay Diego Domínguez Ford Fiesta R5
2015 Paraguay Gustavo Saba Škoda Fabia S2000
2016 Paraguay Diego Domínguez Ford Fiesta R5
2017 Argentina Marcos Ligato Škoda Fabia R5
2018 Paraguay Diego Domínguez Hyundai i20 R5
2019 Paraguay Diego Domínguez Hyundai i20 R5
2020 cancelled for COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Paraguay Gustavo Saba Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2022 Paraguay Diego Domínguez Volkswagen Polo GTI R5

References

  1. ^ Lindsay, Alasdair (23 June 2024). "Paraguay joins WRC calendar from 2025". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  2. ^ "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.[permanent dead link]