2019 Rally Catalunya

2019 Rally Catalunya 55. RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada
Round 13 of 14 in the 2019 World Rally Championship ← Previous event Next event →
Home heroes Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio driving a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC through a stage.
Host country	Spain
Rally base	Salou, Tarragona
Dates run	24 – 27 October 2019
Start location	Gandesa, Tarragona
Finish location	Baix Camp, Tarragona
Stages	17 (325.56 km; 202.29 miles)[1]
Stage surface	Gravel / Tarmac
Transport distance	953.78 km (592.65 miles)
Overall distance	1,278.86 km (794.65 miles)
Statistics
Crews registered	64
Crews	61 at start, 42 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 3:07:39.6
Power Stage winner	Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Support category results
WRC-2 winner	Eric Camilli Benjamin Veillas Eric Camilli 3:16:26.8

The 2019 Rally Catalunya (also known as RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada 2019) was a motor racing event for rally cars which was held over four days between 24 and 27 October 2019.^[2] It marks the fifty-fifth running of Rally Catalunya and is the thirteenth round of the 2019 World Rally Championship, the newly created WRC-2 Pro class, World Rally Championship-2, the Spanish national Rally Championship and Peugeot Rally Cup Ibérica championship.^[a] The 2019 event is based in Salou in Tarragona, and is contested over seventeen special stages with a total a competitive distance of 325.56 km (202.29 mi).

Nine-time world champions Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena were the defending rally winners. Citroën Total WRT, the team they drove for in 2018, were the defending manufacturers' winners.^[4] The Finnish crew of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were the defending rally winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but they did not defend their titles as they were promoted to the newly created WRC-2 Pro class.^[5]

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul won the rally for the first time in their career. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the manufacturers' winners.^[6] The Citroën Total crew of Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen won the WRC-2 Pro category, finishing first in the combined WRC-2 category, while the French crew of Eric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas won the wider WRC-2 class.^[7]

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja finished second overall as well as taking the power stage victory, which was enough for them to seal their maiden World Rally Championship titles.^[8] This made Tänak the first non-French driver to be World Rally Champion since Petter Solberg won the 2003 World Rally Championship title, ending a run of 5,831 days in which a Sébastien was the current champion. With a 2-3 finish in the Pro category, Škoda Motorsport took the first World Rally Championship-2 Pro manufacturers’ title.^[7]

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja led both the drivers' and co-drivers' championships by twenty-eight-points ahead of defending world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were third, a further thirteen points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held an eight-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-six points in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson are second, with Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen further five points behind in third. In the manufacturers' championship, Škoda Motorsport led M-Sport Ford WRT by fifty-three 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 six and eight points respectively. Benito Guerra and Maciej Szczepaniak were second, while Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Yaroslav Fedorov were third.^[10]

The following crews entered into the rally. The event opened to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, WRC-2 Pro, Spanish national Rally Championship, Peugeot Rally Cup Ibérica championship and privateer entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of sixty-four entries were received, with eleven crews entered with World Rally Cars and twenty-four entered the World Rally Championship-2. Four crews were nominated to score points in the Pro class.

No.	Driver	Co-Driver	Entrant	Car	Tyre
World Rally Car entries
1	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën C3 WRC	M
3	Teemu Suninen	Jarmo Lehtinen	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
4	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën C3 WRC	M
5	Kris Meeke	Sebastian Marshall	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
6	Dani Sordo	Carlos del Barrio	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
8	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
10	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
11	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
17	Takamoto Katsuta	Daniel Barritt	Tommi Mäkinen Racing	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
19	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
33	Elfyn Evans	Scott Martin	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
World Rally Championship-2 Pro entries
21	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	M
22	Gus Greensmith	Elliott Edmondson	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II	M
23	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	Citroën Total[b]	Citroën C3 R5	M
24	Jan Kopecký	Jan Hloušek	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	M
World Rally Championship-2 entries
41	Pierre-Louis Loubet	Vincent Landais	Pierre-Louis Loubet[c]	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	M
42	Benito Guerra	Daniel Cué	Benito Guerra[d]	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	M
43	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Maciej Szczepaniak	Kajetan Kajetanowicz[e]	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	P
44	Nikolay Gryazin	Yaroslav Fedorov	Nikolay Gryazin[f]	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	M
45	Marco Bulacia Wilkinson	Fabian Cretu	Marco Bulacia Wilkinson[g]	Škoda Fabia R5	M
46	Fabio Andolfi	Simone Scattolin	Fabio Andolfi[h]	Škoda Fabia R5	P
47	Ole Christian Veiby	Jonas Andersson	Ole Christian Veiby[i]	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	M
48	Alberto Heller	José Díaz	Alberto Heller	Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II	M
49	Paulo Nobre	Gabriel Morales	Paulo Nobre[j]	Škoda Fabia R5	P
50	Adrien Fourmaux	Renaud Jamoul	Adrien Fourmaux[k]	Ford Fiesta R5	M
51	Rhys Yates	James Morgan	Rhys Yates	Hyundai i20 R5	P
52	Simone Tempestini	Sergiu Itu	Simone Tempestini[l]	Hyundai i20 R5	P
53	Emil Lindholm	Mikael Korhonen	Emil Lindholm[m]	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	M
54	Guillaume De Mevius	Martijn Wydaeghe	Guillaume De Mevius[n]	Citroën C3 R5	M
55	"Pedro"[o]	Emanuele Baldaccini	"Pedro"[p]	Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II	P
56	Eric Camilli	Benjamin Veillas	Eric Camilli[q]	Citroën C3 R5	M
57	Nil Solans	Marc Martí	Nil Solans[r]	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	P
58	José Antonio Suárez	Alberto Iglesias	José Antonio Suárez	Škoda Fabia R5	M
59	Jan Solans	Mauro Barreiro	Jan Solans	Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II	P
Other Major Entries
80	Fabrizio Zaldivar	Fernando Mussano	Fabrizio Zaldivar	Ford Fiesta R2	P
Source:[11]

The La Mussara stage is scheduled to return to the itinerary for the first time since 2014 and due to run as the Power stage on Sunday.^[12]

All dates and times are CEST (UTC+2) from 24 to 26 October 2019 and CET (UTC+1) on 27 October 2019.

It was a devastating blow for the reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier's title hope. After setting the fastest stage time at the opening stage, the Frenchman's C3 was crawling through the rest of the morning loop due to power steering failure and loss of hydraulics, which lost the six-time world champion nearly three minutes.^[13] Citroën's rally went from bad to worse as Esapekka Lappi retired from the rally with engine issues in the afternoon loop.^[14] Hyundai ended the first leg in 1-2-3 after all three drivers set impressive times, until Kris Meeke broke the monopoly after the first stage of the second leg.^[15] However, his position was short-lived as the Briton understeer into the barrier and retired from the day.^[16] Despite Meeke's retirement, the Korean squad's 1-2-3 was still under threat from the title-chasing Ott Tänak, who won four stages on Saturday.^[17] The championship leader was flying through the power stage and snatched second from local hero Dani Sordo to seal his maiden WRC title.^[8] Thierry Neuville eventually won the rally for the first time in Spain.^[6]

• 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		1	Thierry Neuville	227		1	Nicolas Gilsoul	227			Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	362
3		1	Sébastien Ogier	217		1	Julien Ingrassia	217			Citroën Total WRT	284
4			Andreas Mikkelsen	102			Anders Jæger-Amland	102			M-Sport Ford WRT	218
5		1	Elfyn Evans	102		1	Scott Martin	102

Mads Østberg dominated Friday with an over-40-second lead going into Saturday.^[18] However, the Norwegian's lead was under a big threat from the freshly-crowned WRC-2 Pro champion Kalle Rovanperä, until the youngster hit a post in the Salou stage and damaged the rear axle on his Fabia R5.^[19] That left Østberg comfortable to win the category.^[7]

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

• 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		1	Mads Østberg	145		1	Torstein Eriksen	145			M-Sport Ford WRT	259
3		1	Gus Greensmith	137		1	Elliott Edmondson	137			Citroën Total	145
4			Jan Kopecký	115			Pavel Dresler	79
5			Łukasz Pieniążek	74			Kamil Heller	62

Nil Solans took an early lead, but a double puncture dropped the local hero over eight minutes.^[18] Championship leader Pierre-Louis Loubet edged Eric Camilli by only 1.5 seconds after Friday, but Camilli surpassed Loubet and built a comfortable lead before the day ended. Championship contender Benito Guerra retired from the rally due to mechanical issues.^[19]

On Sunday, Loubet went off the road and beached his Fabia, which dropped him to fifth. Although the Frenchman still remained on top, his lead was down to just three points. Camilli won the class in the end to give C3 R5 an 1-2 finish in the combined R5 class with Østberg.^[7]

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

Pos.		Drivers' championships				Co-drivers' championships
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Co-driver	Points
1			Pierre-Louis Loubet	91			Vincent Landais	91
2		1	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	88			Maciej Szczepaniak	88
3		1	Benito Guerra	75			Yaroslav Fedorov	73
4			Nikolay Gryazin	73			Jaime Zapata	69
5		1	Fabio Andolfi	64		1	Jonas Andersson	62

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2019 Rally Catalunya.

• Official website (in English and Spanish)
• 2019 Rally de Catalunya in e-wrc website
• The official website of the World Rally Championship