Paraguay will become the 38th country to host the FIA World Rally Championship round when the South American nation joins the calendar in 2025.
The rally event was announced on Saturday in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción, by President Santiago Peña at the Ceremonial Start of Petrobras Rally Transchaco 2024 – the third round of the Paraguayan national championship.
Paraguay is big, and the world is in the process of discovering us. Hosting world-class events like the WRC is another way to show our greatness.-President Peña
The significant multi-year agreement realizes WRC Promoter’s long-held ambition to return to two events annually in South America.
Paraguay boasts a strong rallying heritage, and the sport thrives in the heart of South America. Gustavo Saba was a regular face in Argentinian rounds of the WRC throughout the 2010s, and, more recently, Fabrizio Zaldivar has become an established WRC2 competitor, while Diego Dominguez is among the Junior WRC and WRC3 title favorites. Paraguayan drivers have also won the last 11 FIA CODASUR South American Rally Championship editions.
WRC Promoter’s proactive approach to creating a more sustainable pathway for the future of rallying played a significant role in Paraguay’s bidding to be part of the championship. Paraguay generates 100 percent of its grid electricity from sustainable resources, echoing the sustainable ethos of the WRC, which sees all cars run on 100 percent fossil-free fuel.
We have been in discussions with Paraguay for many years, and I am incredibly pleased to see this agreement across the line.- WRC Senior Event Director Simon Larkin
There is no questioning the nation’s passion for rallying, and we cannot wait to transmit this passion and Paraguay’s spectacular scenery worldwide. Welcoming Paraguay to the FIA World Rally Championship in 2025 is a fantastic opportunity for the series and stakeholders to explore new horizons. -FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem
I want to extend my sincere thanks to my friend Hugo R. Mersan Galli, Chairman of the Touring y Automóvil Club Paraguayo, and his team for their efforts in developing our sport, to the organizers of Rally Paraguay and the President of Paraguay, Mr Santiago Peña for his invaluable support, added Ben Sulayem.
Based out of the touristic southern city of Encarnacion on the Paraná River, the rally will welcome masses of fans from across the border in Argentina and the South American continent. Stages will occur throughout the Itapúa region, annually hosting a round of the FIA CODASUR South American Rally Championship on red gravel roads parallel to the spectacularly stunning Parana River.
Source: FIA
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Douglas Pilarski is an award-winning Writer & Journalist based on the West Coast. He writes about luxury goods, exotic cars, horology, tech, food, lifestyle, and business.
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