Fabrizio fabulous again for South America’s top rally championship honour in i20 N Rally2
Fabrizio Zaldivar followed Hayden Paddon’s lead by winning a prestigious FIA regional rally championship with the i20 N Rally2 two years running when he secured the CODASUR crown for 2024.
After Paddon clinched consecutive FIA European Rally Championship titles driving the car, ‘Fau’ Zaldivar successfully defended the South American FIA CODASUR Rally Championship crown he won for the first time in 2023, armed with an i20 N Rally2 prepared by the Automotor Rally Team.
Zaldivar’s decisive fourth-place finish at Rally del Atlántico in Uruguay (November 14-17), capped off a superb campaign by the Paraguayan and Marcelo Der Ohannesian, his Argentina-born co-driver. They won three of the five CODASUR rounds and fought back from their non-finish on the season-opening Rally Trans Itapúa in Zaldivar’s homeland to become champions again.
That recovery began at the second event of the year, Rally Jesús Maria in Argentina, where they triumphed following a close early battle for position.
Zaldivar and Ohannesian were winners again at Rally Santa Cruz in Bolivia and the Hyundai-equipped pair made it a hat-trick of triumphs at Rally Erechim Brazil, where their two closest championship rivals failed to score.
Having increased his championship lead from two to 21 points by winning the Brazilian fixture, Zaldivar knew that a top-five finish would be sufficient at Rally del Atlántico, making his fourth place in Uruguay more than enough for the title.
“It’s a really nice feeling to win the FIA CODASUR Rally Championship after starting the season with a DNF at my home event,” Zaldivar said. “We had to really focus and work hard with the team to have a perfect car for each following round. We managed to win three rallies in a row where we really needed to rely on the i20 N Rally2 and push to the limit to achieve our goals. I am really happy and this achievement is the reward for the hard work we put in during the year.”
With Paddon adding the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship to his trophy haul, Hyundai’s i20 N Rally2 captured three FIA regional titles in 2024.
