Juan Pablo Raies is a rally

Rallying

Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

 race car driver.

Raies made his World Rally Championship

World Rally Championship

The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...

 debut on his home event

Rally Argentina

The Rally Argentina is an Argentine rally competition that has been both a round of the World Rally Championship and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The rally is also a round of the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championship...

 in 1992, aboard a Renault 18 GTX

Renault 18

The Renault 18 is a large family car produced by French manufacturer Renault between 1978 and 1993 .-Development:...

. He returned to participate in the same event intermittently over the course of the following decade, which culminated in tenth and eighth placed finishes respectively in the Group N

Group N

In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N refers to a set of regulations providing 'standard' production vehicles for competition, often referred to as the "Showroom Class"....

 production car-based category on the 2001 and 2002 running of these events, both with the then dominant choice in the formula, of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, colloquially known as the Lancer Evo or Evo, is a high-performance sedan manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors. There have been ten official versions to date, and the designation of each model is most commonly a roman numeral...

. He piloted a World Rally Car

World Rally Car

World Rally Car is a term used to describe racing automobiles built to the specification set by the FIA, the international motorsports governing body, and used to compete in the outright class of the World Rally Championship...

 for the first time, in his instance a Subaru Impreza

Subaru Impreza

Introduced in November 1993, the Impreza was offered in either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive versions and as a four-door sedan/saloon or five-door station wagon/estate. According to a Motor Trend article written March 1992 on page 26, the name of Subaru's new compact was, initially, to be...

, in the 2005 Rally Argentina. In the same year, he became South American Rally Champion.

Raies was given a one-off chance with the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team on the Cyprus Rally

Cyprus Rally

The Cyprus Rally is a rallying competition held yearly in Cyprus since 1970. The event is run by the Cyprus Automobile Association and is based in the city of Limassol . It is run on the winding roads of the nearby mountains of Troödos. It was part of the FIA's World Rally Championship from 2000...

 during the 2006 season, retiring on special stage

Special stage (rallying)

Special stages are the competitive sections of a stage rally event where the goal is to cover a stretch of closed road in the shortest time. On a special stage cars are set off individually at set intervals to reduce the chances of being impeded by other competitors. Each special stage is a...

 five due to an electrical problem with his Ford Focus WRC

Ford Focus WRC

The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...

.

He was a driver for Munchi's Ford World Rally Team

Munchi's Ford World Rally Team

The Munchi's Ford World Rally Team is a private team currently competing in the World Rally Championship. The team made its debut in the 2007 Swedish Rally...

 in the 2007 World Rally Championship season

2007 World Rally Championship season

The 2007 World Rally Championship season was the 35th season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on January 19 with the 75ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo and ended on December 2 with the 63rd Wales Rally of Great Britain. Citroën's Sébastien Loeb won the drivers' world...

, as team-mate to the more established Luís Pérez Companc

Luís Pérez Companc

Luís Pérez Companc is a rally driver. Alongside co-driver José María Volta, he is a regular competitor in the World Rally Championship...

, brother of Raies' co-driver, Jorge Pérez Companc. Raies was excluded on his first outing with the team on the Swedish Rally

Swedish Rally

The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish...

, although he did still manage to achieve two twelfth placed finishes later in the year, on the Norwegian

Rally Norway

Rally Norway is the Norwegian rally which, as of the 2007 season onwards, is part of the World Rally Championship organised by the FIA. Previously, it had long only been the case of the Swedish Rally where a WRC event was held on snow...

and Argentine events.