2019 Rally Australia 28. Kennards Hire Rally Australia | ||
---|---|---|
Round 14 of 14 in the 2019 World Rally Championship
| ||
Host country | Australia | |
Rally base | Coffs Harbour, New South Wales | |
Dates run | 14 – 17 November 2019 | |
Start location | Coffs Harbour, New South Wales | |
Finish location | Coramba, New South Wales | |
Stages | 25 (324.53 km; 201.65 miles)[1] | |
Stage surface | Gravel | |
Transport distance | 759.47 km (471.91 miles) | |
Overall distance | 1,084.00 km (673.57 miles) | |
Statistics | ||
Crews registered | 26 | |
Cancellation | Rally 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]
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]
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
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 | Ott Tänak | 263 | Martin Järveoja | 263 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 380 | ||||||
2 | Thierry Neuville | 227 | Nicolas Gilsoul | 227 | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 362 | ||||||
3 | Sébastien Ogier | 217 | Julien Ingrassia | 217 | Citroën Total WRT | 284 | ||||||
4 | Andreas Mikkelsen | 102 | Anders Jæger-Amland | 102 | M-Sport Ford WRT | 218 | ||||||
5 | Elfyn Evans | 102 | 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 | Kalle Rovanperä | 206 | Jonne Halttunen | 206 | Škoda Motorsport | 333 | ||||||
2 | Mads Østberg | 145 | Torstein Eriksen | 145 | M-Sport Ford WRT | 259 | ||||||
3 | Gus Greensmith | 137 | Elliott Edmondson | 137 | Citroën Total | 145 | ||||||
4 | Jan Kopecký | 115 | Pavel Dresler | 79 | ||||||||
5 | Łukasz Pieniążek | 74 | Kamil Heller | 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 | Pierre-Louis Loubet | 91 | Vincent Landais | 91 | ||||
2 | Kajetan Kajetanowicz | 88 | Maciej Szczepaniak | 88 | ||||
3 | Benito Guerra | 75 | Yaroslav Fedorov | 73 | ||||
4 | Nikolay Gryazin | 73 | Jaime Zapata | 69 | ||||
5 | Fabio Andolfi | 64 | Jonas Andersson | 62 |
Notes
References
- 1 2 3 "rally guide 2" (PDF). rallyaustralia.com.au. Rally Australia. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ↑ "FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ↑ Howard, Tom (12 November 2019). "UPDATE: Rally Australia cancelled due to bushfires". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ↑ Herrero, Daniel (27 September 2019). "Australia drops off WRC calendar in 2020". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ↑ "Sunday in Australia: Six of the best for Ogier". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ↑ "WRC 2 in Australia: Alberto Heller Seals Comfortable Win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
- ↑ "Hyundai celebrates title". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- ↑ "Loubet lifts WRC 2 title". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ↑ "Sunday in Spain: Tänak takes WRC title". wrc.com. WRC. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- 1 2 "Sunday in WRC 2: Heartbreak for Loubet". wrc.com. WRC. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ↑ Benyon, Jack (31 October 2019). "Ostberg dropped from one-off Citroen WRC outing". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- ↑ "Rally Australia 2019 Entry List" (PDF). rallyaustralia.com.au. Rally Australia. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ↑ Howard, Tom (10 November 2019). "Rally Aus hopeful of shortened WRC finale amid bushfire threat". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ↑ Howard, Tom (12 November 2019). "Rally Australia reveals revised route proposal". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ↑ "Rally Australia Cancelled". wrc.com. WRC. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
External links
- Official website (in English)
- 2019 Rally Australia in e-wrc website
- The official website of the World Rally Championship