Grand Prix of South America Rally 2018 – Report and Photos

The Grand Prix of South America Rally 2018 was staged October 18 to November 17, starting in Buenos Aires and ending in Cartagena. The rally covered nearly 10,000 kilometers, visited Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela and attracted crowds along the way.

Five times World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio competed in the 1948 Grand Prix of South America, and it was 70 years later that his son Oscar flagged off the first contestant in the inaugural re-run of this ‘greatest ever road race’. Organised by classic car rally specialist Bespoke Rallies, this challenging 10,000 kilometer adventure began in Buenos Aires and finished in Cartagena almost a month later, having shadowed the original route as closely as possible through Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

The winning car was the second oldest on the event, the 1929 Chrysler 75 of Andrew Davies and Paul Dilley who, despite tough opposition from the drivers of such much younger vehicles as a Triumph TR4 and pair of Ford Escort 2000s, led the event for much of the way, thanks to the notable regularity rally skills of its crew.

In 2nd place was the 1972 Porsche 911 of Gerd Buehler and Armin Gottfried Knuepfing, followed by the splendid 1933 Lagonda M45 of Martin Egli, Thomas Kern and Marc Buhofer and the 1938 Chevrolet Coupe of Daniel and Rabbia Schlatter — the very type of machine in which Fangio contested the original event all those years before.

The next Bespoke Rallies event will be the Pyrenees 1000 (8-12 May), a competitive event through the Pyrenees mountain range that starts and finishes in Pamplona, Spain. For further information, visit BespokeRallies.com.

Grand Prix of South America Rally 2018 – Photo Gallery (photos: Bespoke Rallies)

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