2019 Rally Australia

Last updated
2019 Rally Australia
28. Kennards Hire Rally Australia
Round 14 of 14 in the 2019 World Rally Championship
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Andreas Mikkelsen Rally Australia 2014 001.jpg
Rally Australia marks the end of the 2019 season.
Host countryFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Rally base Coffs Harbour, New South Wales
Dates run14 – 17 November 2019
Start locationCoffs Harbour, New South Wales
Finish location Coramba, New South Wales
Stages25 (324.53 km; 201.65 miles) [1]
Stage surface Gravel
Transport distance759.47 km (471.91 miles)
Overall distance1,084.00 km (673.57 miles)
Statistics
Crews registered26
CancellationRally cancelled due to bushfires.

The 2019 Rally Australia (also known as Kennards Hire Rally Australia 2019) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was scheduled to be held over four days between 14 and 17 November 2019. [2] The event was cancelled because of an ongoing bushfire emergency in the area. [3] The event was to mark the twenty-eighth running of Rally Australia and was the final round of the 2019 World Rally Championship, WRC-2 Pro class and World Rally Championship-2. The 2019 event would have been based in Coffs Harbour in New South Wales, and contested over twenty-five special stages with a total a competitive distance of 324.53 km (201.65 mi). Rally Australia will not be featured in the 2020 championship. [4]

Contents

Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were the defending rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners. [5] Alberto Heller and José Diaz were the defending rally winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but did not participate in the event. [6]

As a result of the rally's cancellation, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT became the manufacturers' champions, while Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais won the divers' and co-drivers' titles respectively in the WRC-2 class. [7] [8]

Background

Championship standings prior to the event

Newly crowned champions Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja led the both drivers' and co-drivers' championships with a thirty-six-point ahead of Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul. Defending world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia were third, a further ten points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held an eighteen-point lead over Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT. [9]

In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings, newly crowned champions Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen led by sixty-one points in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen were second, with Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson further eight points behind in third. In the manufacturers' championship, manufacturers' champion Škoda Motorsport led M-Sport Ford WRT by seventy-four points, with Citroën Total over a hundred points behind in third. [10]

In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by three points respectively. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak were second, while Benito Guerra were third in the drivers' standings and Yaroslav Fedorov in the co-drivers' standings. [10]

Entry list

The following crews were due to entered into the rally. The event was scheduled to open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, WRC-2 Pro and privateer entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of twenty-six entries were received, with twelve crews were scheduled to enter with World Rally Cars and three were scheduled to enter the World Rally Championship-2. This was later reduced to eleven World Rally Cars when Citroën withdrew a planned entry for Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen. [11]

No.DriverCo-driverEntrantCarTyre
World Rally Car entries
1 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Ogier Flag of France.svg Julien Ingrassia Flag of France.svg Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC M
3 Flag of Finland.svg Teemu Suninen Flag of Finland.svg Jarmo Lehtinen Flag of the United Kingdom.svg M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC M
4 Flag of Finland.svg Esapekka Lappi Flag of Finland.svg Janne Ferm Flag of France.svg Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC M
5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Kris Meeke Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sebastian Marshall Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC M
6 Flag of Spain.svg Dani Sordo Flag of Spain.svg Carlos del Barrio Flag of South Korea.svg Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC M
8 Flag of Estonia.svg Ott Tänak Flag of Estonia.svg Martin Järveoja Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC M
10 Flag of Finland.svg Jari-Matti Latvala Flag of Finland.svg Miikka Anttila Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC M
11 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Neuville Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Nicolas Gilsoul Flag of South Korea.svg Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC M
18 Flag of Ireland.svg Craig Breen Flag of Ireland.svg Paul Nagle Flag of South Korea.svg Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC M
20 Flag of New Zealand.svg Hayden Paddon Flag of New Zealand.svg John Kennard Flag of the United Kingdom.svg M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC M
33 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Elfyn Evans Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Scott Martin Flag of the United Kingdom.svg M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC M
World Rally Championship-2 entries
41 Flag of France.svg Pierre-Louis Loubet Flag of France.svg Vincent Landais Flag of France.svg Pierre-Louis Loubet [a] Škoda Fabia R5 M
42 Flag of Mexico.svg Benito Guerra Flag of Spain.svg Daniel Cué Flag of Mexico.svg Benito Guerra [b] Škoda Fabia R5 M
45 Flag of India.svg Gaurav Gill Flag of Australia (converted).svg Glenn Macneall Flag of India.svg Gaurav Gill Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II M
Source: [12]

Route

Only five stages from the 2018 event were scheduled to return to the 2019 itinerary. Two of these were due to run in opposite direction to the 2018 rally. [1]

Planned itinerary

All dates and times are AEDT (UTC+11).

DateTimeNo.Stage nameDistance
14 November8:00—Eastbank [ Shakedown ]5.09 km
Leg 1 — 125.88 km
14 November16:30SS1Destination NSW SSS19 11.33 km
16:40SS2Destination NSW SSS19 21.33 km
15 November9:00SS3Coldwater19 116.78 km
9:48SS4Sherwood 126.68 km
10:51SS5Kookaburra Rd 116.82 km
13:36SS6Coldwater19 216.78 km
14:24SS7Sherwood 226.68 km
15:27SS8Kookaburra Rd 216.82 km
17:00SS9Destination NSW SSS19 31.33 km
17:10SS10Destination NSW SSS19 41.33 km
Leg 2 — 116.99 km
16 November8:33SS11Northbank Reverse 18.00 km
9:12SS12Utungun Reverse 17.54 km
10:08SS13Argents Hill Reverse 113.13 km
10:51SS14Welshs Creek Reverse 128.83 km
12:14SS15Raleigh1.99 km
15:08SS16Argents Hill Reverse 213.13 km
16:00SS17Welshs Creek Reverse 228.83 km
17:13SS18Northbank Reverse 28.00 km
17:52SS19Utungun Reverse 27.54 km
Leg 3 — 81.66 km
17 November7:03SS20Mount Coramba 119.05 km
7:47SS21Lower Bucca 111.47 km
8:38SS22Wedding Bells19 110.31 km
11:06SS23Mount Coramba 219.05 km
11:50SS24Lower Bucca 211.47 km
13:08SS25Wedding Bells19 2 [ Power Stage ]10.31 km
Source: [1]

Bushfire emergency

Bushfires in New South Wales led to the cancellation of the rally. Fire in Lithgow.jpg
Bushfires in New South Wales led to the cancellation of the rally.

In the week before the rally, the New South Wales Mid North Coast region was devastated by unprecedented bushfires. Organisers of the rally announced plans to run the event over a shortened route if conditions deteriorated further, while organisers of the Australian Rally Championship — of which Rally Australia was planned to be the final round — cancelled the series' involvement in the rally. [13] A revised itinerary featuring 90 km (55.9 mi) of competitive stages was submitted to the FIA for approval. [14] However, the rally was cancelled eventually. [15]

Report

World Rally Cars

Championship standings

  • Bold text indicates 2019 World Champions.
Pos.Drivers' championshipsCo-drivers' championshipsManufacturers' championships
MoveDriverPointsMoveCo-driverPointsMoveManufacturerPoints
1 1rightarrow blue.svg Ott Tänak 263 1rightarrow blue.svg Martin Järveoja 263 1rightarrow blue.svg Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 380
2 1rightarrow blue.svg Thierry Neuville 227 1rightarrow blue.svg Nicolas Gilsoul 227 1rightarrow blue.svg Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 362
3 1rightarrow blue.svg Sébastien Ogier 217 1rightarrow blue.svg Julien Ingrassia 217 1rightarrow blue.svg Citroën Total WRT 284
4 1rightarrow blue.svg Andreas Mikkelsen 102 1rightarrow blue.svg Anders Jæger-Amland 102 1rightarrow blue.svg M-Sport Ford WRT 218
5 1rightarrow blue.svg Elfyn Evans 102 1rightarrow blue.svg Scott Martin 102

World Rally Championship-2 Pro

Championship standings

  • Bold text indicates 2019 World Champions.
Pos.Drivers' championshipsCo-drivers' championshipsManufacturers' championships
MoveDriverPointsMoveCo-driverPointsMoveManufacturerPoints
1 1rightarrow blue.svg Kalle Rovanperä 206 1rightarrow blue.svg Jonne Halttunen 206 1rightarrow blue.svg Škoda Motorsport 333
2 1rightarrow blue.svg Mads Østberg 145 1rightarrow blue.svg Torstein Eriksen 145 1rightarrow blue.svg M-Sport Ford WRT 259
3 1rightarrow blue.svg Gus Greensmith 137 1rightarrow blue.svg Elliott Edmondson 137 1rightarrow blue.svg Citroën Total 145
4 1rightarrow blue.svg Jan Kopecký 115 1rightarrow blue.svg Pavel Dresler 79
5 1rightarrow blue.svg Łukasz Pieniążek 74 1rightarrow blue.svg Kamil Heller 62

World Rally Championship-2

Championship standings

  • Bold text indicates 2019 World Champions.
Pos.Drivers' championshipsCo-drivers' championships
MoveDriverPointsMoveCo-driverPoints
1 1rightarrow blue.svg Pierre-Louis Loubet 91 1rightarrow blue.svg Vincent Landais 91
2 1rightarrow blue.svg Kajetan Kajetanowicz 88 1rightarrow blue.svg Maciej Szczepaniak 88
3 1rightarrow blue.svg Benito Guerra 75 1rightarrow blue.svg Yaroslav Fedorov 73
4 1rightarrow blue.svg Nikolay Gryazin 73 1rightarrow blue.svg Jaime Zapata 69
5 1rightarrow blue.svg Fabio Andolfi 64 1rightarrow blue.svg Jonas Andersson 62

Notes

  1. ↑ Entry operated by Qatar 2C World Rally Team.
  2. ↑ Entry operated by Race Seven.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "rally guide 2" (PDF). rallyaustralia.com.au . Rally Australia . Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  2. ↑ "FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions". fia.com . Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  3. ↑ Howard, Tom (12 November 2019). "UPDATE: Rally Australia cancelled due to bushfires". speedcafe.com . Speedcafe . Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  4. ↑ Herrero, Daniel (27 September 2019). "Australia drops off WRC calendar in 2020". speedcafe.com . Speedcafe . Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Sunday in Australia: Six of the best for Ogier". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  6. ↑ "WRC 2 in Australia: Alberto Heller Seals Comfortable Win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  7. ↑ "Hyundai celebrates title". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  8. ↑ "Loubet lifts WRC 2 title". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  9. ↑ "Sunday in Spain: Tänak takes WRC title". wrc.com. WRC. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  10. 1 2 "Sunday in WRC 2: Heartbreak for Loubet". wrc.com. WRC. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  11. ↑ Benyon, Jack (31 October 2019). "Ostberg dropped from one-off Citroen WRC outing". autosport.com . Motorsport Network . Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  12. ↑ "Rally Australia 2019 Entry List" (PDF). rallyaustralia.com.au . Rally Australia. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  13. ↑ Howard, Tom (10 November 2019). "Rally Aus hopeful of shortened WRC finale amid bushfire threat". speedcafe.com . Speedcafe . Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  14. ↑ Howard, Tom (12 November 2019). "Rally Australia reveals revised route proposal". speedcafe.com . Speedcafe . Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  15. ↑ "Rally Australia Cancelled". wrc.com. WRC. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
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