2019 World Rally Championship

2019 FIA World Rally Championship
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Support series:
FIA World Rally Championship-2 Pro
FIA World Rally Championship-2
FIA Junior World Rally Championship

The 2019 FIA World Rally Championship is due to be the forty-seventh season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and crews will compete for the World Rally Championships for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers. Crews are free to compete in cars complying with World Rally Car and Group R regulations; however, only Manufacturers competing with World Rally Cars homologated under regulations introduced in 2017 are eligible to score points in the Manufacturers' championship. The series will once again be supported by the World Rally Championship-2 categories at every round and by the Junior World Rally Championship at selected events.

Entries

The following teams and crews are under contract to compete in the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship.

Manufacturer Entrant Car Driver name Co-driver name
Citroën France Citroën World Rally Team[1] Citroën C3 WRC France Sébastien Ogier[2] France Julien Ingrassia[2]
Ford United Kingdom M-Sport Ford World Rally Team[3] Ford Fiesta WRC Finland Teemu Suninen[4] TBA
Hyundai South Korea Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Norway Andreas Mikkelsen[5] TBA
Belgium Thierry Neuville[6] Belgium Nicolas Gilsoul[6]
Toyota Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC Estonia Ott Tänak[7] TBA

Crew changes

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia left M-Sport Ford to return to Citroën.[2] Ogier and Ingrassia previously competed for the French manufacturer in 2011 before moving to Volkswagen Motorsport.

Calendar

A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2019 World Rally Championship. Event headquarters are marked with a black dot.

The championship will be contested over fourteen rounds in Europe, the Middle East, North and South America and Australia.[8]

Round Dates Rally Rally headquarters Rally details
Start Finish Surface Stages Distance
1 24 January 27 January Monaco Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo TBA Mixed TBA TBA
2 14 February 17 February Sweden Rally Sweden Torsby, Värmland Snow TBA TBA
3 7 March 10 March Mexico Rally Guanajuato México León, Guanajuato Gravel TBA TBA
4 28 April 31 April France Tour de Corse Bastia, Haute-Corse Tarmac TBA TBA
5 25 April 28 April Argentina Rally Argentina TBA Gravel TBA TBA
6 9 May 12 May Chile Rally Chile Concepción, Biobio Gravel TBA TBA
7 30 May 2 June Portugal Rally de Portugal TBA Gravel TBA TBA
8 13 June 16 June Italy Rally Italia Sardegna TBA Gravel TBA TBA
9 1 August 4 August Finland Rally Finland TBA Gravel TBA TBA
10 22 August 25 August Germany ADAC Rallye Deutschland[note 1] TBA Tarmac TBA TBA
11 12 September 15 September Turkey Marmaris Rally of Turkey TBA Gravel TBA TBA
12 3 October 6 October United Kingdom Wales Rally GB[note 1] TBA Gravel TBA TBA
13 24 October 27 October Spain RACC Rally Catalunya de España[note 1] TBA Mixed TBA TBA
14 14 November 17 November Australia Rally Australia[note 1] Coffs Harbour, New South Wales Gravel TBA TBA
Source:[8][9][10][11][12][13]

Calendar expansion

Following the return of Rally Turkey to the championship in 2018, the FIA announced plans to expand the calendar to fourteen rounds in 2019 with the long-term objective of running sixteen championship events. Twelve prospective bids for events were put together,[14] including candidate events in New Zealand, Japan and Chile.[15] Prospective events in Kenya, Croatia, Canada and Estonia expressed interest in joining the calendar within five years.[16][17][18][19] The planned expansion put pressure on European rounds to maintain their position on the calendar as teams were unwilling to contest sixteen events immediately. The Tour de Corse and Rally Italia Sardegna proved to be unpopular among teams for the logistical difficulties of travelling to Corsica and Sardinia and low spectator attendance at the events.[14][20] Organisers of Rally Japan reached an agreement with the sport's promoter to host a rally in 2019, with the proposed event moving from Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido to Toyota City in Honshu.[21] However, plans to return to Japan were abandoned when the promoter came under pressure to retain the Tour de Corse.[22] The proposed events in Japan and Kenya will run candidate events in 2018 in a bid to join the championship in 2020.[9][23] The calendar published in October 2018 included Rally Chile as part of the expansion to fourteen rounds.[8] The event will be based in Concepción and run on gravel roads.[9] Rally Chile will be run back-to-back with Rally Argentina.

Route changes

Organisers of the Tour de Corse announced plans for a new route, with up to three-quarters of the 2019 route being revised from the 2018 rally.[12]

Rule changes

Sporting regulations

  • Drivers will be permitted to choose a permanent number, similar to the numbering systems used in Formula 1 and MotoGP.[8][13] Prior to the 2019 championship, the numbering system was based on championship standings from the previous year.
  • The number of test days will be reduced from 55, with teams permitted to test for 42 days per year.[8][13]
  • The maximum total distance of special stages per event will be reduced from 500 km (310.7 mi) to 350 km (217.5 mi).[8]
  • The championship's support categories will be restructured. The World Rally Championship-3 will be discontinued and a new class will be created within the World Rally Championship-2. The class, known as World Rally Championship-2 Pro, will be open to manufacturer-supported teams entering cars complying with Group R5 regulations.[13] Two-wheel drive cars and Group R2 and R3 cars will still be eligible to enter rallies despite the cessation of the World Rally Championship-3.[13]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Date subject to confirmation.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Evans, David (8 June 2018). "Citroen insists it won't quit the World Rally Championship in 2019". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Evans, David (28 September 2018). "Sebastien Ogier picks Citroen for 2019 World Rally Championship". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Evans, David (15 June 2018). "Sebastien Ogier: 2019 WRC decision between M-Sport and retirement". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. ↑ Evans, David (28 September 2018). "M-Sport won't rush decision over 2019 WRC plans after Ogier's exit". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  5. ↑ Beer, Matt (28 September 2017). "Hyundai signs Andreas Mikkelsen for 2018-19 WRC seasons". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Neuville signs new Hyundai deal". wrc.com. WRC. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  7. ↑ Evans, David (17 January 2018). "Ott Tanak felt stuck as Sebastien Ogier's number two at M-Sport". autosport.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Chile steps up to 2019 WRC". wrc.com. WRC Promoter. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  10. ↑ "Rally Sweden fakta 2019" (PDF). rallytravels.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "Rally Mexico homepage". Rally Guanajuato Mexico]]. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  12. 1 2 Evans, David (12 October 2018). "Tour of Corsica announces 2019 World Rally Championship reprieve". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Herrero, Daniel (13 October 2018). "Australia remains finale on 2019 WRC calendar". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  14. 1 2 Evans, David (4 July 2018). "Japan and Chile now both expected to host 2019 WRC rounds". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Howard, Tom (17 November 2017). "Rally Aus continues push for multi-year WRC deal". speedcafe.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  16. ↑ Coch, Mat (9 February 2018). "Canada seeking to host WRC from 2023". speedcafe.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  17. ↑ "FIA signs agreement for 'modern-era' Safari Rally". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Urmo Aava: eesmärk on jõuda WRC sarja, mitte nendega konkureerida" [Urmo Aava: the goal is to reach WRC, not to be their rival] (in Estonian). Eesti Rahvusringhääling. 30 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Rally Estonia naaseb ja tahab murda 2021. aastaks MM-sarja" [Rally Estonia returns and wants to reach the World Championship by 2021] (in Estonian). Postimees. 1 November 2017.
  20. ↑ Evans, David (14 June 2018). "WRC team pushing for Italy 2019 boycott over Sardinia route". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  21. ↑ Evans, David (22 August 2018). "Rally Japan gets go-ahead from WRC Promoter for 2019 event". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018.
  22. ↑ Evans, David (11 October 2018). "Rally Japan's WRC return set to be abandoned at FIA council meeting". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  23. ↑ Evans, David (12 October 2018). "019 WRC calendar: 14-round schedule given green light by FIA WMSC". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
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