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. 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: YearWinnerCar 1981 Santiago Silguero Datsun 160J 1982 Santiago Silguero Datsun 160J 1983 Juan Viveros Datsun 160J1984–1988 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
External links Paraguayan Rally Championship Official website CODASUR official website