Category: WRC, Rally

The 2019 FIA World Rally Championship season reaches its conclusion on the gravel roads of Rally Australia (November 14-17), where the battle for the manufacturers’ title goes down to the wire.

Coffs Harbour (Australia), 8 Nov 2019: Previously based in Perth, Rally Australia moved to New South Wales ten years ago and has been now located in Coffs Harbour for most of this decade, since 2011. The surrounding area provides an exciting mix of gravel stages, combining rugged and dusty forest tracks in the bush with wider and faster roads through the open countryside.

After Ott Tänak and navigator Martin Järveoja claimed their maiden drivers’ and co-drivers’ title last time out on Rally de España, all eyes are now on the fight for the manufacturers’ crown. The battle will be raging between Hyundai, seeking to win its first FIA WRC title with an 18-point advantage, against the defending Champion, Toyota.

While the Japanese manufacturer relies on its regular trio of drivers featuring Tänak, Kris Meeke and Jari-Matti Latvala, the South-Korean squad has once again tweaked its line-up, with Thierry Neuville joined by Dani Sordo and Craig Breen, although 2016 Rally Australia winner Andreas Mikkelsen had been initially announced on the entry list. At M-Sport Ford, New Zealander Hayden Paddon enters with a third Ford Fiesta, alongside Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen, on an event on which he finished second in 2018 and third in 2017.

In the drivers’ competition, the fight for the runner-up spot remains alive between Rally Spain’s winner Neuville and six-time WRC Champion Ogier, separated by just 10 points in second and third respectively. There’s also a thrilling battle ahead between the drivers in fourth to ninth position, covered by only 13 points. With 30 points available in Australia, the top 10 could be looking very different at the end of WRC’s grand finale!

In the support championships, Škoda Motorsport has won it all in the FIA WRC 2 Pro category this season, by securing the drivers’ title with their factory crew of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Haltunnen on Rally GB, as well as the manufacturers’ title last time out in Spain. In Australia, the focus switches to the FIA WRC 2 class, where the champion is still to be decided between Pierre-Louis Loubet – the winner in Portugal and Italy earlier this year – and Benito Guerra, who started his campaign with a victory on home soil in Mexico in March. Both contenders will be driving a Škoda Fabia R5, with the Frenchman leading his Mexican rival by 16 points.

THE 2019 ROUTE

Changes for the 2019 event include an earlier start to the competitive action in the form of two runs over a revamped Super Special stage near the Coffs Harbour jetty on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, the crews will travel north for morning and afternoon loops of the familiar Coldwater and Sherwood tests and the new Kookaburra Road, blending sections from a number of previous stages, while two further passes of the super special will end the event’s longest leg. On Saturday, the action will head south to the flowing farmland tests of Northbank and Utungun, joined by the classic shire roads of the Argents Hill and Welshs Creek stages. Sunday’s repeated loop also features new stages in Mount Coramba and Lower Bucca, before a longer version of the popular Wedding Bells test, which will again serve as the Power Stage and scene for the final podium ceremony.

RALLY DATA

Wales, 6 Oct 2019: Jan Solans has made FIA Junior WRC history, winning the 2019 championship and Wales Rally GB, he becomes one half of the only pair of sibling champions in Junior WRC. His brother Nil Solans won the championship in 2017.

The Spaniard wins a career-transforming prize package. He receives free registration for the 2020 WRC2 category in his own, brand new, EcoBoost-powered M-Sport Fiesta R5 MkII with 200 Pirelli tyres and five free WRC2 entries for the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship.

Mauro Barreiro, co-driver for Solans, has also been crowned FIA Junior WRC co-drivers Champion.

A Champion’s drive

Solans delivered a level-headed but supreme performance on Wales Rally GB, becoming a force to be reckoned with for Rally victory from the get go. Tom Kristensson was locked in duel for the championship with Solans throughout Friday before suffering a puncture at the end of the morning loop on Saturday, losing over three minutes to Solans. From that moment onwards, Solans changed his strategy with the sole focus of bringing his EcoBoost-powered M-Sport Fiesta R2 home to clinch victory on Wales Rally GB and claim the biggest prize in rallying, the FIA Junior WRC Drivers Championship.

He joins the likes of WRC stars Sebastien Loeb, Dani Sordo, Sebastien Ogier, Craig Breen, Elfyn Evans and Pontus Tidemand.

The champion’s season

Solans has had an incredible season throughout 2019, taking an impressive podium at the season opener on Rally Sweden. Tour de Corse was a rally where he had his sights set on victory but suffered a puncture early on in the rally and immediately turned his attention to racking up stage win points on his way to fourth position. Sardinia was where Solans emerged as a true contender for the championship, dicing for stage wins and the lead with Dennis Radstrom. It was a battle he came out on top of, winning the rally and claiming the championship lead. The fourth round of the championship was held on Rally Finland where the Spaniard claimed a respectable second position and added more stage win points to his tally. Heading into Wales Rally GB, Solans had 24 stage win points to his name and was just one-point shy of the championship lead.

His pace and determination to push for stage wins has caught the attention of many throughout the WRC service park, and it certainly bodes well for his 2020 WRC2 campaign.

Jan Solans, 2019 FIA Junior WRC Champion, said: “It feels amazing after winning my first WRC category title and have some many people to thank for their support through this season. Hopefully next year will be a great season in WRC2 which I’m really looking forward to.”

FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager, Maciej Woda, said: “Huge congratulations to Jan and Mauro – amazing result from this duo in their first season in the WRC. It is a very well deserved win in a very competitive Championship. I am hugely impressed with his speed and I can see Jan being serious contender in 2020 WRC2.

“I would like to thank and congratulate all Junior WRC drivers this year for very friendly and very fair competition, which is what makes Junior WRC so special.

“Thank you Jan and congratulations!”

Wales, 6Oct 2019: Jan Solans has one hand firmly on the 2019 FIA Junior WRC Championship after a drama-filled Saturday that saw Tom Kristensson suffer a major setback in his bid for championship glory.

American Sean Johnston is set to record the best result of his career with a podium position and collect fourth in the championship in a major upset, displacing Roland Poom who was fourth heading into Wales Rally GB.

Home favourite Tom Williams ended his day prematurely on the opening stage as he sent his M-Sport Fiesta R2T rolling out of a sweeping right hander eventually coming to rest in a treeline bordering the stage.

Kristensson closed the gap to Solans by 4.1 seconds on the opening stage of Saturday keeping his championship hopes alive while Radstrom bounced back from a disappointing Friday to take the first stage win of the day.

Solans struck back on SS12, doubling his lead to 24 seconds and earning an additional championship point while Kristensson finished the stage fourth as Roland Poon delivered a top-three stage time.

SS13 was where Kristensson’s championship fight fell apart. He suffered a puncture 10.5 km into the stage losing three minutes and three seconds thanks to debris trapped in the wheel that needed changing.

Solans went on to cruise through the rest of the day’s stages thanks to his sizeable cushion over his Swedish rival who immediately regrouped after his puncture. Kristensson was determined to continue and be the only driver to finish on the podium at every round of the 2019 Junior WRC Championship.

If Kristensson were to finish in second, the position he currently occupies, he would win the 2019 FIA Junior WRC Rookie Award and earn €15,000 to put towards his 2020 Junior WRC campaign.

Despite crashing out of the championship race early in the day on Friday, Dennis Rådström returned to fine form on Saturday, taking a total of five stage wins and a clean sweep of stage wins in the afternoon loop.

The fight for the final top five positions in the rally began with Fabrizio Zaldivar in fourth and Enrico Oldrati fifth. By the time of the tyre fitting zone after SS13 the pair had maintained position but by the conclusion of the second pass on Sweet Lamb, the order began to change. Oldrati suffered a puncture, losing in excess of four minutes, promoting American rookie Ryan Booth to the final top five position. Stage 16 saw Booth relegated to sixth just as quickly as he was promoted due to an electrical issue seeing Oldrati reclaim fifth position. The drama continued on the following stage when Zaldivar left the stage and found himself in a ditch, with no spectators around to help recover him, he retired from the stage. Remarkably he only lost one position by the conclusion of the day and will resume restart Wales Rally GB on Sunday in fifth with Oldrati now occupying fourth.

Jan Solans said: “We are now in a very comfortable lead so we need to take this car to the finish line and try to avoid mistakes. We need to keep going and focussed on our own rally without making mistakes and arrive at the finish line on the last stage tomorrow. The championship is in my hands now so it’s a little bit of pressure, but we just need to keep our concentration.”

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia managed to throw the FIA World Rally Championship title race wide open again after claiming a priceless maiden victory in Rally Turkey on Sunday.

Needing to secure maximum points to realistically continue his challenge for a seventh successive world title, the Citroën driver benefited from the electrical misfortune that plagued series leader Ott Tänak and an accident that cost Thierry Neuville valuable minutes on Saturday.

By picking up an additional three bonus points on the final Power Stage, Ogier now heads to the remaining three rounds of this year’s championship 17 points behind the leading Estonian after starting the weekend 40 adrift.

Esapekka Lappi took the fight to his triumphant team-mate from the opening gravel stage. The Finn led from stages three to 11, secured three stage wins and, despite an overshoot and a spin, delivered an impressive performance to give the French manufacturer a first one-two finish since Kris Meeke and Mads Østberg prevailed in Argentina in 2015 with a pair of DS3 WRCs.

The 34.7-second win was a 47th career WRC success for Ogier and a first since Mexico in early March this year.

The final morning developed into a procession with the three title contenders conserving their tyres for a final Power Stage push.

Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen delivered vital points for the Korean manufacturer with third overall. The Norwegian claimed three stage wins in his i20 and was easily the class of the rest of the field behind the Citroën duo.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Teemu Suninen’s challenge for the podium fizzled out on the final morning, but the Finn was able to deliver fourth place in Turkey for a second successive year.

Fifth overall for Spaniard Dani Sordo handed Hyundai crucial points for the Manufacturers’ Championship and enabled the team to move 19 clear of the Toyota Team. The Toyotas of both Jari-Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke reached the finish in sixth and seventh overall. Latvala recorded three stage wins and Meeke one.

Thierry Neuville conserved his tyres on the final morning to challenge for the Power Stage win and the Belgian collected four bonus points to add to his eighth overall, an accident on Saturday morning potentially wrecking his title dream for another season.

M-Sport Ford’s Pontus Tidemand delivered a measured drive to ninth place in the second of the works Fords and WRC leader Ott Tänak was last of the factory team drivers after his electrical woes on Saturday. The Estonian opted to take no spare wheel in his Yaris for a flat out push on the Power Stage and he at least salvaged a maximum five bonus points from a train-wreck of a weekend as far as his title aspirations were concerned.

England’s Gus Greensmith returned to the FIA WRC 2 Pro section after recent forays in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC and repaid the team’s loyalty with maximum points in his category and 10th overall, despite an accident after the flying finish of SS16 that left the Ford looking decidedly worse for wear at the finish.

Both the Škoda Fabia R5 Evos of Jan Kopecký and Kalle Rovanperä suffered a series of punctures during the weekend and had to settle for second and third in FIA WRC 2 Pro, the former finishing as runner-up in 11th overall – 29.4 seconds behind Greensmiith – after leading the category for long periods.

Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz made a late switch from a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 to a Škoda Fabia R5 and showed a clean pair of heels to his FIA WRC 2 rivals. A fine drive was rewarded with 12th overall, although he suffered a late front left drive shaft breakage on the penultimate test and lost two places in the overall rankings to his WRC 2 Pro rivals. His consolation was the joint lead in the 2019 WRC 2 Championship.

Behind Kajetanowicz in FIA WRC 2, Bolivian driver Marco Bulacia and Italy’s Fabio Andolfi rounded off the top three places.

2019 Rally Turkey – Final Unofficial Results: