Rally Mexico, formerly known as Rally America is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The rally entered the championship schedule in the 2004 season. The event's itinerary is based in the state of Guanajuato. The stages take place in the environs of cities of León, Silao, and Guanajuato; rally headquarters being located in León.

Rally Mexico
StatusActive
GenreMotorsporting event
FrequencyAnnual
CountryMexico
Inaugurated1979
2008 Rally Mexico podium ceremony with Loeb, Atkinson and Latvala.

Rally México features the highest stages of all WRC championship rounds, as high as 2700 meters; engines in WRC cars lose up to 20% of their power in these stages as a result, due to the lower air pressure at such altitudes.

In 2004, the Organising Committee won the Inmarsat Star of the Rally award[1] for his first organized WRC rally. In 2008, the Organising Committee of the Corona Rally Mexico won the Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally award for the great work done in the organization of the WRC event.

History

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Rally America, later known as Corona Rally Mexico and now Rally Guanajuato Mexico, was created in 1979 through a big spirit of co-operation by the two largest clubs in Mexico: Club Automovilístico Francés de México (CAF) and the Rally Automovil Club (RAC). Both clubs have a long history of sporting competition, so their collaboration was a big step forward for rallying in the country. It was originally hosted in the State of Mexico and ran continuously until 1985.

After an absence of six years, the event ran again in 1991 and followed the route of El Paso de Cortés, between two of Mexico's largest volcanoes. Following the cancellation of the 1992 edition of the event, the CAF opted for a different concept: a short rally with a high percentage of special stages. The result was the very successful 1993 edition that was held in Valle de Bravo under the direction of Gilles Spitalier. The rally was awarded the Rally of the Year title by the Mexican National Rally Commission.

The Organising Committee then took over the running of the Rally de las 24 Horas, the CAF's flagship event, and, for this reason, Rally America was not staged again until 1996, when the internationalization of the project began.

The CAF and its new promoting partner, Rallymex, moved the event to the US border in Ensenada, Baja California, for two years, where it started to attract international entries.

In 1998, the organizers decided to rename the event and move it to Leon, Guanajuato. With a long-term business plan focusing on inclusion in the World Rally Championship in place, the event ran again in 1999 and 2000, stepping up a gear each year. From 2001 to 2003, the organizers went for observation by the FIA, successfully running the event on each occasion.

 
Chris Atkinson with a Subaru Impreza WRC at the 2008 event.

The 2003 Corona Rally Mexico – the 17th in the history of the rally – proved to be the crucial turning point. New facilities at the Poliforum Expo Center were groundbreaking in the sport and this, combined with one of the most compact routes ever, put the event firmly in the frame for World Championship status. A total of 45 crews representing 11 countries crossed the start ramp in Guanajuato during one of the most spectacular opening ceremonies seen in the sport.

Corona Rally Mexico made its debut in the expanded 16-round World Rally Championship in the 2004 season, running successfully as the third round of the series and implementing a raft of regulation changes introduced by the FIA for the season. In 2005, the event again ran as the third round and was the first full gravel event of the year, attracting 44 crews representing 17 nations. For the first time in their series, the FIA Junior World Rally Championship contenders also ventured outside Europe, Corona Rally Mexico being the second event in its eight-round series.

For the 2007 edition, 21º Corona Rally México, the route was re-designed, making it more compact for a total of 850 kilometers. An all-time record for the championship. The rally was also made the centrepiece conclusion of the new NACAM Rally Championship regional series when it was created in 2008. After that first year the NACAM championship shifted its Mexican round to the Rally Sierra del Tigre.

In 2009, the Rally was run as the International Rally of Nations. In 2010 amid a year-long fiesta to mark the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution and the 200th anniversary of its independence, the WRC returned to León.

From 2017, the rally is again part of the NACAM Rally Championship.[2]

Winners

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Pink background indicates that in that year the rally was not part of WRC calendar.

Year Rally Winner Car
1979 1. Rally América
1980 2. Rally América
1981 3. Rally América
1982 4. Rally América
1983 5. Rally América
1984 6. Rally América 2000   Jaime Balmes
  Romero
Chevrolet Citation
1985 7. Rally América 2000   Emilio de la Parra
  Marin
Ford Mustang
1991 8. Rally América
1993 9. Rally América   Giuseppe Spataro
  Jean Noel Valdelièvre
Mitsubishi Eclipse
1994 10. Rally América   Agustín Zamora
  Gabriel Marín
Mitsubishi Eclipse
1997 Rally América 2000   Roger Hull
  Sean Gallagher
Mitsubishi Eclipse
1998 Rally Enerplex America 2000   Carlos Izquierdo (rally driver)
  Angélica Fuentes
Nissan Tsuru
1999 13. Rally México   Gabriel Marín
  Javier Marín
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
2000 14. Rally México   Douglas Gore
  Mark Nelson
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Under FIA observation
2001 15. Corona Rally América   Ramón Ferreyros
  Raúl Velit
Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
2002 16. Corona Rally México   Harri Rovanperä
  Risto Pietiläinen
Peugeot 206 WRC
Peugeot Total
2003 17. Corona Rally México   Marcos Ligato
  Rubén García (rally driver)
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII
Top Run
World Rally Championship round
2004 1. Corona Rally México   Markko Märtin
  Michael Park
Ford Focus RS WRC 03
Ford World Rally Team
2005 2. Corona Rally México   Petter Solberg
  Phil Mills
Subaru Impreza WRC 2005
Subaru World Rally Team
2006 3. Corona Rally México   Sébastien Loeb
  Daniel Elena
Citroën Xsara WRC
Kronos Total Citroën WRT
2007 4. Corona Rally México   Sébastien Loeb
  Daniel Elena
Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën Total World Rally Team
2008 5. Corona Rally México   Sébastien Loeb
  Daniel Elena
Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën Total World Rally Team
2009 Rally de las Naciones   Manfred Stohl
  Ilka Minor
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
Manfred Stohl
2010 7. Rally Guanajuato Bicentenario   Sébastien Loeb
  Daniel Elena
Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën Total World Rally Team
2011 8. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Sébastien Loeb
  Daniel Elena
Citroën DS3 WRC
Citroën Total World Rally Team
2012 9. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Sébastien Loeb
  Daniel Elena
Citroën DS3 WRC
Citroën Total World Rally Team
2013 10. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Sébastien Ogier
  Julien Ingrassia
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Volkswagen Motorsport
2014 11. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Sébastien Ogier
  Julien Ingrassia
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Volkswagen Motorsport
2015 12. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Sébastien Ogier
  Julien Ingrassia
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Volkswagen Motorsport
2016 13. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Jari-Matti Latvala
  Miikka Anttila
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Volkswagen Motorsport
2017 14. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Kris Meeke
  Paul Nagle
Citroën C3 WRC
Citroën Total World Rally Team
2018 15. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Sébastien Ogier
  Julien Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
M-Sport Ford WRT
2019 16. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Sébastien Ogier
  Julien Ingrassia
Citroën C3 WRC
Citroën Total WRT
2020 17. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Sébastien Ogier
  Julien Ingrassia
Toyota Yaris WRC
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
2021 FIA NACAM Rally Guanajuato 2021   Ricardo Cordero Jr
  Marco Hernández
Citroën C3 Rally2
GHR Rally Team
2022 Rally of Nations Guanajuato 2022   Mads Østberg
  Johan Johansson
Citroën C3 Rally2
Team Norway
2023 19. Rally Guanajuato Mexico   Sébastien Ogier
  Vincent Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
2024 Rally of Nations Guanajuato 2024   Mads Østberg
  Patrik Barth
Škoda Fabia R5
Team Scandinavia

Multiple winners

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References

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  1. ^ "CORONA RALLY MEXICO ORGANISERS WIN INMARSAT "STAR OF THE RALLY" AWARD". RallyMexico.com. 2004-03-14. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  2. ^ "eWRC-results.com - rally database". eWRC-results.com.
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