2019_Rally_Sweden

2019 Rally Sweden

2019 Rally Sweden

67th edition of Rally Sweden


The 2019 Rally Sweden (also known as the Rally Sweden 2019) (Swedish: Svenska Rallyt 2019) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 14 and 17 February 2019.[2] It marked the sixty-seventh running of Rally Sweden and was the second round of the 2019 World Rally Championship. It was also the second round of the World Rally Championship-2 and the newly created WRC-2 Pro class, and the first round of the Junior World Rally Championship. The 2019 event was based in the town of Torsby in Värmland County and consists of nineteen special stages. The rally covered a total competitive distance of 319.17 km (198.32 mi).

Quick Facts 2019 Rally Sweden 67. Rally Sweden, Host country ...

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were the defending rally winners. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners.[3] Takamoto Katsuta and Marko Salminen were the defending winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category.[4] Denis Rådström and Johan Johansson were the reigning World Rally Championship-3 and defending Junior World Rally Championship winners, but didn't defend their WRC-3 title as the category was discontinued in 2019.[5]

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja became the fourth non-Nordic crew to win the event. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the manufacturers' winners.[6] The Citroën Total crew of Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen took the victory in the WRC-2 Pro category, while Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson won the wider WRC-2 class, finishing first in the combined WRC-2 category. This marked the first R5 class victory in the WRC for the new Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.[7] The first round of the J-WRC championship was taken by Tom Kristensson and Henrik Appelskog crew in their maiden appearances.[8]

Jari-Matti Latvala surpassed the record for most starts in the history of the World Rally Championship with his 197th start. The previous record was set by Carlos Sainz, with 196 starts.[9]

Background

Championship standings prior to the event

Defending world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia entered the round with an eight-point lead over the defending rally winners Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul. Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were third, a further four points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held a five-point lead over Citroën World Rally Team and the defending manufacturers' champions Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT.[10]

In the newly created World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings, Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson held a seven-point lead ahead of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. In the teams' championship, M-Sport Ford WRT led Škoda Motorsport by seven points.[11]

In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by seven points respectively. Adrien Fourmaux and Renaud Jamoul were second, with Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson in third in each standings, another slender three points behind.[11]

Entry list

The following crews were entered into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and WRC-2 Pro, the Junior World Rally Championship, and privateer entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of sixty-two entries were received, with fourteen crews entered with World Rally Cars and twenty-three entered the World Rally Championship-2; of these, five were nominated to score points in the Pro class. A further thirteen entries were received for the Junior World Rally Championship.

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Route

The route of the 2019 rally is made up of 319.17 km (198.32 mi) in competitive stages, some 4.92 km (3.06 mi) longer than the 2018 event.[13] The Rämmen stage will return replace the Torntorp stage. Rämmen is due to be run as SS9 and SS12 and will run in the opposite direction to previous years.[14]

Itinerary

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia driving a Volkswagen Polo R WRC at Colin's Crest Arena during Vargåsen.

All dates and times are CET (UTC+1).

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Report

World Rally Cars

Being first on the road meant Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia have to endure changeable conditions and unpredictable grip. As it turned out, it is highly risky. The six-time World Champions went off the road on Svullrya and stuck in the snowbank, which forced them to retire from the first leg. The other major victim was Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila crew, who went wide over a crest on the final stage of Friday and cost them nearly twenty-four minutes to get unstuck. They chose to run under Rally2 regulation so that they reduced the time loss to ten minutes.[16][17]

The second leg of the rally appeared to be a total disaster for Teemu Suninen and Marko Salminen. Having led a rally for the first time ever, they beached their Fiesta at a left-hand corner, which dropped them down to eighth.[18] Worse still, at the afternoon loop, they hit a tree and damaged their roll cage, which forced them to retire from the day. Following the retirement of Suninen and Salminen, Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were comfortable in the lead.[19]

Eventually, The Estonian crew comfortably took their first snow-surfaced rally victory. With the win, they led in both the drivers' and co-drivers' standings for the first time ever in their career by seven points. Their team, defending manufacturers' champions Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT also led the championship by one point. Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm crew managed to keep themselves ahead of Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul with just a three seconds of advantage.[20]

Classification

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Special stages

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Championship standings

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World Rally Championship-2 Pro

Classification

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Special stages

Results in bold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.

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Championship standings

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World Rally Championship-2

Classification

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Special stages

Results in bold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.

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Championship standings

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Junior World Rally Championship

Classification

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Special stages

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Championship standings

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Notes

  1. Car entered by GRX Team, but operated by Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT.
  2. Entry run in conjunction with DG Sport.
  3. Entry run in conjunction with TGS Worldwide.
  4. Entry operated by Tommi Mäkinen Racing.
  5. Entry operated by Baumschlager Rallye & Racing.
  6. Entry operated by Toksport World Rally Team.
  7. Entry operated by Sports Racing Technologies.
  8. Entry operated by J-Motorsport.
  9. Entry operated by Printsport.
  10. Entry operated by Volkswagen Dealer Team Bauhaus.
  11. Entry operated by Ravasi Corse.
  12. Jari Huttunen and Antti Linnaketo were placed first overall on the stage.

References

  1. "Rally Sweden fakta 2019" (PDF). rallytravels.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  2. "Sunday in Sweden: Neuville Wins in Sweden". wrc.com. WRC. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  3. "WRC 2 in Sweden: Katsuta suprises [sic] champion". wrc.com. WRC. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  4. "Junior WRC in Sweden: Rådström fights back to win". wrc.com. WRC. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  5. "Sunday in Sweden:Victory for ice-cool Tänak". wrc.com. WRC. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  6. "WRC 2 in Sweden:Østberg seals Pro win". wrc.com. WRC. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  7. "Junior WRC in Sweden:Tom's debut delight". wrc.com. WRC. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  8. "Sunday in Monte-Carlo:Ogier claims sixth straight win". wrc.com. WRC. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  9. "WRC 2 Monte-Carlo:Greensmith secures Pro victory". wrc.com. WRC. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  10. "Rally Sweden 2019 Official Entry List" (PDF). rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. 21 January 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  11. "Rally Sweden Countdown: Rally Route". wrc.com. WRC. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  12. "SS 9/12 Rämmen". rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  13. "The race". rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  14. Lindsay, Alasdar (15 February 2019). "WRC Rally Sweden: Suninen leads Tanak, as Ogier and Latvala crash". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  15. Lindsay, Alasdar (15 February 2019). "WRC Rally Sweden: Teemu Suninen error leaves Ott Tanak in big lead". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  16. "Saturday in Sweden: Tänak takes control". wrc.com. World Rally Championship. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  17. Lindsay, Alasdar (17 February 2019). "Ott Tanak takes World Rally Championship lead with Sweden win". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
Previous rally:
2019 Monte Carlo Rally
2019 FIA World Rally Championship Next rally:
2019 Rally Mexico
Previous rally:
2018 Rally Sweden
2019 Rally Sweden Next rally:
2020 Rally Sweden

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