2019 Rally Australia

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2019 Rally Australia
28. Kennards Hire Rally Australia
Round 14 of 14 in the 2019 World Rally Championship
← Previous event
Andreas Mikkelsen Rally Australia 2014 001.jpg
Rally Australia marks the end of the 2019 season.
Host country Australia
Rally baseCoffs Harbour, New South Wales
Dates run14 – 17 November 2019
Start locationCoffs Harbour, New South Wales
Finish locationCoramba, New South Wales
Stages25 (324.53 km; 201.65 miles)[1]
Stage surfaceGravel
Transport distance759.47 km (471.91 miles)
Overall distance1,084.00 km (673.57 miles)
Results
CancellationRally cancelled due to bushfires.
Crews registered26

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]

Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were the defending rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners.[5] and 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 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. Driver Co-driver Entrant Car Tyre
World Rally Car entries
1 France Sébastien Ogier France Julien Ingrassia France Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC M
3 Finland Teemu Suninen Finland Jarmo Lehtinen United Kingdom M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC M
4 Finland Esapekka Lappi Finland Janne Ferm France Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC M
5 United Kingdom Kris Meeke United Kingdom Sebastian Marshall Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC M
6 Spain Dani Sordo Spain Carlos del Barrio South Korea Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC M
8 Estonia Ott Tänak Estonia Martin Järveoja Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC M
10 Finland Jari-Matti Latvala Finland Miikka Anttila Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC M
11 Belgium Thierry Neuville Belgium Nicolas Gilsoul South Korea Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC M
18 Republic of Ireland Craig Breen Republic of Ireland Paul Nagle South Korea Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC M
20 New Zealand Hayden Paddon New Zealand John Kennard United Kingdom M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC M
33 United Kingdom Elfyn Evans United Kingdom Scott Martin United Kingdom M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC M
World Rally Championship-2 entries
41 France Pierre-Louis Loubet France Vincent Landais France Pierre-Louis Loubet[a] Škoda Fabia R5 M
42 Mexico Benito Guerra Spain Mexico Benito Guerra[b] Škoda Fabia R5 M
45 India Gaurav Gill Australia India 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).

Date Time No. Stage name Distance
14 November 8:00 — Eastbank [Shakedown] 5.09 km
Leg 1 — 125.88 km
14 November 16:30 SS1 Destination NSW SSS19 1 1.33 km
16:40 SS2 Destination NSW SSS19 2 1.33 km
15 November 9:00 SS3 Coldwater19 1 16.78 km
9:48 SS4 Sherwood 1 26.68 km
10:51 SS5 Kookaburra Rd 1 16.82 km
13:36 SS6 Coldwater19 2 16.78 km
14:24 SS7 Sherwood 2 26.68 km
15:27 SS8 Kookaburra Rd 2 16.82 km
17:00 SS9 Destination NSW SSS19 3 1.33 km
17:10 SS10 Destination NSW SSS19 4 1.33 km
Leg 2 — 116.99 km
16 November 8:33 SS11 Northbank Reverse 1 8.00 km
9:12 SS12 Utungun Reverse 1 7.54 km
10:08 SS13 Argents Hill Reverse 1 13.13 km
10:51 SS14 Welshs Creek Reverse 1 28.83 km
12:14 SS15 Raleigh 1.99 km
15:08 SS16 Argents Hill Reverse 2 13.13 km
16:00 SS17 Welshs Creek Reverse 2 28.83 km
17:13 SS18 Northbank Reverse 2 8.00 km
17:52 SS19 Utungun Reverse 2 7.54 km
Leg 3 — 81.66 km
17 November 7:03 SS20 Mount Coramba 1 19.05 km
7:47 SS21 Lower Bucca 1 11.47 km
8:38 SS22 Wedding Bells19 1 10.31 km
11:06 SS23 Mount Coramba 2 19.05 km
11:50 SS24 Lower Bucca 2 11.47 km
13:08 SS25 Wedding Bells19 2 [Power Stage] 10.31 km
Source:[1]

Bushfire emergency[]

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' championships Co-drivers' championships Manufacturers' championships
Move Driver Points Move Co-driver Points Move Manufacturer Points
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' championships Co-drivers' championships Manufacturers' championships
Move Driver Points Move Co-driver Points Move Manufacturer Points
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 79
5 1rightarrow blue.svg Łukasz Pieniążek 74 1rightarrow blue.svg 62

World Rally Championship-2[]

Championship standings[]

  • Bold text indicates 2019 World Champions.
Pos. Drivers' championships Co-drivers' championships
Move Driver Points Move Co-driver Points
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 73
4 1rightarrow blue.svg Nikolay Gryazin 73 1rightarrow blue.svg 69
5 1rightarrow blue.svg 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. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b "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.

External links[]

Previous rally:
2019 Rally Catalunya 		2019 FIA World Rally Championship Next rally:
2020 Monte Carlo Rally (2020)
Previous rally:
2018 Rally Australia 		2019 Rally Australia Next rally:
TBD
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