The World Rally Championship is expanding ahead of the 2025 season, with two new events joining the calendar.
Ahead of the next season, Rally del Paraguay is being added to the calendar, becoming the second event in South America alongside Chile.
The WRC will also travel to Saudi Arabia for the first time, and the event will host the final round of the season.
Paraguay has signed a multi-year agreement to host a round of the World Rally Championship and a test event has already been successfully completed.
The championship is confident the nation can provide a different aspect to the series as the WRC expands to 14 rounds via quotes from motorsport.com.
WRC ‘know’ Paraguay will provide a ‘unique new story’ to the World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship welcoming Paraguay to the calendar means that nine of the 14 events will be run of gravel.
Paraguay will have some experience in managing a rally ahead of its debut in the WRC, after running a test event as part of the Petrobras Rally Paraguay national Championship.
The event also has support from the Paraguayan government, with President Santiago Pena being vital to the country securing a spot on the WRC calendar.
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WRC event director Simon Larkin explained that the championship is confident the Rally del Paraguay can be a success.
He said: “The presence of President Santiago Pena at the ceremonial start on Thursday further underlined the full commitment of the government to the success of this project.’
“Rallying is huge in Paraguay, and the 17 Rally2 cars that were on the start line for the event provide further indication that this will be a strong new entrant to the WRC from 2025, and we look forward to further witnessing the passion and enthusiasm of the fans in August next year.
“We know this event will provide a unique new story to the WRC.”
The WRC title battle is a tense fight with three rounds to go
Belgian driver Thierry Neuville is leading the championship for Hyundai ahead of the final three rounds and holds a 34-point lead over Ott Tanak.
Neuville has been on good form in recent events, winning the Acropolis Rally in Greece, his second win of the season.
The 36-year-old is looking to win his first WRC title and is in control of the championship after being very consistent over the year.
Tanak will be looking to gain some points on Neuville at the next event at Rally Chile, a venue he took victory at in 2023.