A year from today, it’ll be happening for real – Paraguay will be on the verge of its maiden appearance in the World Rally Championship. Next month? It’s dress rehearsal time as the fifth round of the domestic series doubles as a world rally warm-up.
Petrobras Rally del Paraguay runs out of Encarnación, a city which sits in the country’s south overlooking the Argentinian border. For the likes of local heroes Omar Benítez Jr. and Nicolás Baeza, the event is all about the push for season-long silverware.
For Omar Avila it’s about next year. Avila is CEO of Paraguay’s WRC round.
“I’m really looking forward to WRC people visiting us,” he told DirtFish. “From the beginning of this [WRC] project, I worked with one of the country’s best-known drivers in Gustavo Saba, who is also a stakeholder in the company promoting the national series. Gustavo has been so supportive and we made a good agreement with the national championship to get hold of round number five.
“We pushed a little bit the date for the event – we wanted September 19-21 because it’s just a few days before Rally Chile. People who come from the FIA, WRC Promoter, the teams, all of the stakeholders, they can visit Paraguay on the way to Concepción for Rally Chile. It’s one trip to South America instead of two.
This year's test event is being held just before Rally Chile to save WRC attendees two trips to South America
“The national event normally runs around 120 kilometers (75 miles); we went a bit more ambitious with a route of 10 stages and 149 kilometers (93 miles). We will present two stages – one on Friday and one on Saturday – to WRC Promoter and the FIA which are run to full WRC specification.”
That means the full WRC stage infrastructure, including all aspects of safety tracking, timing and data delivery. Looking to the wider timetable for the event, Avila added: “The program will begin with shakedown on Thursday morning (Despensa Rosi 4.67km/2.90 miles) and a ceremonial start that evening.
“Then we go to Friday: three stages repeated and those three are probably going to be the same roads for Friday in 2025. Saturday, we run four stages with one of those being a gravel superspecial at Autodromo Capitan Miranda, a famous venue in the area.
“That final stage will start at 1.18pm, so we can be finished by around half-two in the afternoon on Saturday and that gives us the opportunity for a good debrief and, crucially, it gives people time to travel to the capital in Asunción and on to Chile where they are in good time to perform their jobs for the next WRC round.
“The last thing we wanted to do was to have any impact on Chile and how that event runs, that’s why we made a two-day event which finishes in good time on Saturday. We want people to come and see how amazing Petrobras Rally del Paraguay is going to be and what a great place Encarnación is. But we understand they have logistics and an infrastructure already in place for round 11 this season.
“We’re very fortunate to have support from the very top – it was such an honor to have Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña making the announcement of the WRC round back in June. The President has remained an incredibly loyal supporter of what we’re doing – yes, he’s a fan of the sport, but much more importantly, he can see the opportunity the WRC brings to his country.
“It’s the same with Gustavo’s company and team. Paraguay is a country in love with the sport of rallying. The passion and emotion to bring the WRC here is on another level. Next month, you will see this for yourselves.”
Petrobras Rally del Paraguay will run as the 10th round of the 2025 WRC, ending just 10 days before part two of the series’ South American double-header in Chile.
