Swank Rally São Paulo 2023

It's rare to recognise a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as it happens and even rarer to capitalize on it. Luckily some of us are pretty clever ducks. So when the plan to host the second-ever Swank Rally Brazil in a partially deconstructed national monument popped into the ol’ inbox, it was simply a matter of collecting oneself and sending a succinct ‘yes’ (with the addition of some less than sponsor-friendly adjectives) back to the team down south.

Pacaembu Stadium, or Estádio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho for the Wikipediated out there is an art deco coliseum-style beauty built in the forties and it’s currently under renovation, leaving a soccer pitch size circle of sand and mud in the middle, perfectly suited to our needs.

In keeping with the run-what-you-bring philosophy of a Swank Rally, Mini bikes, E-bikes, scooters, trails and a great many CRF 250 provided by Honda, all took turns around the track across four competition categories.

When you weren’t racing, there were live music acts to enjoy, Dario Costa behind the grill and Fred Lyrillos putting on a show that went right over the crowd's heads (literally).