Which WRC event was the first to be held in South America?

Rally Argentina was the first WRC event to be held in South America. It entered the 1980 World Rally Championship calendar as Rally Codasur, based initially in Tucumán Province. The event was organised by Argentina’s Automóvil Club Argentino and won by Walter Röhrl and co-driver Christian Geistdörfer in a Fiat 131 Abarth.

The rally’s arrival marked the WRC’s expansion into South America after the championship had largely been contested in Europe, with selected events in Africa, North America and the Pacific region. Brazil had staged a promising international rally in 1979, but it was not considered ready for WRC status at that point.

The Argentine event was held again in 1981, skipped in 1982, and moved to San Carlos de Bariloche in 1983. It then relocated to Córdoba Province in 1984, where the rally became strongly associated with Villa Carlos Paz, gravel mountain roads and spectacular water-splash sections.

A common mix-up is the name: the first WRC running was called Rally Codasur, while Rally Argentina became the established name later. They refer to the same Argentine WRC lineage.