Rally Mexico, formerly known as Rally America is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The rally entered the championship schedule in the 2004 season. The event's itinerary is based in the state of Guanajuato. The stages take place in the environs of cities of León, Silao, and Guanajuato; rally headquarters being located in León. Rally México features the highest stages of all WRC championship rounds, as high as 2700 meters; engines in WRC cars lose up to 20% of their power in these stages as a result, due to the lower air pressure at such altitudes. In 2004, the Organising Committee won the Inmarsat Star of the Rally award for his 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. History Rally America, later known as Corona Rally Mexico and now Rally Guanajuato Mexico, was created in 1979 through a big spirit of co-operation by the two largest clubs in Mexico: Club Automovilístico Francés de México (CAF) and the Rally Automovil Club (RAC). Both clubs have a long history of sporting competition, so their collaboration was a big 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 Cortés, between two of Mexico's largest volcanoes. Following the cancellation of the 1992 edition of the event, the CAF opted for a different concept: a short rally with a high percentage of special stages. The result was the very successful 1993 edition that was held in 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.