Rally Trans Itapúa Explained

Rally Trans Itapúa
Status:Active
Genre:Motorsporting event
Frequency:Annual
Country:Paraguay
First: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.

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]

YearWinnerCar
1981 Santiago SilgueroDatsun 160J
1982 Santiago SilgueroDatsun 160J
1983 Juan ViverosDatsun 160J
COLSPAN=31984–1988 not held
1989 Alfredo ScheidVolkswagen Golf 2.0
1990 Eduardo ElizecheVolkswagen Golf 1.6
1991 Orlando PennerVolkswagen Golf 1.8
1992 Pedro FadulVolkswagen Golf 1.8
1993 Orlando PennerVolkswagen Golf 1.8
1994 Orlando PennerVolkswagen Golf 2.0
1995 Marquito GalantiToyota Celica GT-Four
1996 Marquito GalantiToyota Celica GT-Four
1997 Marquito GalantiToyota Celica GT-Four
1998 Alejandro GalantiToyota Celica GT-Four
1999 Marquito GalantiToyota Corolla WRC
2000 Alejandro GalantiToyota Celica GT-Four
2001 Francisco GorostiagaToyota Corolla WRC
2002 Francisco GorostiagaToyota Corolla WRC
2003 Francisco GorostiagaToyota Corolla WRC
COLSPAN=32004–2005 not held
2006 Alejandro GalantiToyota Corolla WRC
2007 Alejandro GalantiToyota Corolla WRC
2008 Victor GaleanoMitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2009 Alejandro GalantiToyota Corolla S2000
2010 Alejandro GalantiToyota Corolla S2000
2011 Tiago WeilerMitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2012 Alejandro GalantiToyota Corolla S2000
2013 Gustavo SabaŠkoda Fabia S2000
2014 Diego DomínguezFord Fiesta R5
2015 Gustavo SabaŠkoda Fabia S2000
2016 Diego DomínguezFord Fiesta R5
2017 Marcos LigatoŠkoda Fabia R5
2018 Diego DomínguezHyundai i20 R5
2019 Diego DomínguezHyundai i20 R5
2020cancelled for COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Gustavo SabaVolkswagen Polo GTI R5
2022 Diego DomínguezVolkswagen Polo GTI R5

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Alasdair. Lindsay. Paraguay joins WRC calendar from 2025. dirtfish.com. DirtFish. 23 June 2024. 23 June 2024.
  2. Web site: El Rally Trans Itapúa, una prueba con historia . The Rally Trans Itapua, a test with history . 2014 . rally.com.py . Campeonato Nacional Paraguayo . es . PDF . 2014-04-22 .