The Corona Rally Mexico, previously known as Rally America, is the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The rally entered the championship schedule in the 2004 season and is currently the only North American event in the series. The event takes you to the state of Guanajuato. The stages take place in the cities of Leon, Silao and Guanajuato; the rally headquarters being located at Leon.
In 2004, the Organising Committee won the ‘Inmarsat Star of the Rally’ award for the 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.
Rally America, as it was originally known, was created in 1979 through a big spirit of co-operation by the two largest clubs in Mexico: Club Automovilstico Francos de Mexico (CAF) and the Rally Automovil Club (RAC). Both these clubs have had a long history of sporting competition, and so their collaboration was a major 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 Cortes, between two of Mexico’s largest volcanoes. The 1992 edition of the rally was cancelled, and the following year, the CAF opted for a different concept: a short rally with a high percentage of special stages. The result was an extremely successful 1993 edition, held in the 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 mainly on inclusion into the FIA World Rally Championships, the event ran again in 1999 and 2000, stepping up a notch each year. From 2001 to 2003, the organizers went under observation by the FIA, successfully running the event on each occasion.
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 FIA 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 of the Corona Rally Mexico, the route was re-designed, making it more compact for a total of 850 kilometers. An all time record for the championship. The event was competed during March 9-11. France’s Sebastien Loeb took the win in the new Citroen C4 WRC, ahead of BP Ford’s Finns, Marcus Gronholm and Mikko Hirvonen.