The 2019 Rally Argentina (also known as the XION Rally Argentina 2019) was a

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...

event for

rally cars Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

that held over four days between 25 and 28 April 2019. It marked the thirty-ninth running of

Rally Argentina The Rally Argentina ( es, Rally de Argentina) is an Argentine rally competition that has been a round of the World Rally Championship, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championshi ...

, and was the fifth round of the

2019 World Rally Championship The 2019 FIA World Rally Championship was 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. T ...

World Rally Championship-2 The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...

and the newly-created WRC-2 Pro class. The 2019 event was based in

Villa Carlos Paz Villa Carlos Paz () is a city in the center-north of the province of Córdoba, Argentina, in the south of the Punilla Valley, lying on the western slope of the Sierras Chicas. It has a population of about 56,000 as per the . The area of Punilla is ...

in Córdoba Province and consisted of eighteen special stages totalling competitive kilometres.

Ott Tänak Ott Tänak (; born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT. Tänak achieved his maiden drivers' world title in t ...

and

Martin Järveoja Martin Järveoja (; born 18 August 1987) is an Estonian rally co-driver. He is currently teamed with Ott Tänak and is competing for Hyundai in the World Rally Championship. Rally career He is the son of Estonian politician Toomas Järveoja, ...

were the defending rally winners. Their team,

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT is a World Rally Championship (WRC) team based in Finland that serves as Toyota's official factory team. Its team principal is former WRC driver Jari-Matti Latvala. The team made its début during the 2017 season, where ...

, were the manufacturers' winners.

Pontus Tidemand Pontus Johan Tidemand (born 10 December 1990) is a Swedish rally and rallycross driver. He is the 2017 WRC-2 champion and a previous M-Sport and Škoda Motorsport driver. Pontus is the son of Swedish rally driver Tomas Tidemand and ex-rally co ...

and Jonas Andersson were the defending winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but they did not participate in the event.

Thierry Neuville Thierry Jean Neuville (born 16 June 1988) is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship five times (2013, 2016–20 ...

and

Nicolas Gilsoul Nicolas Gilsoul (born 5 February 1982) is a Belgian rally co-driver. He is the former co-driver for Thierry Neuville.

won the rally for the second time in their career. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the manufacturers' winners. The

Citroën Total Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 8 ...

crew of

Mads Østberg Mads Østberg (born 11 October 1987) is a Norwegian rally driver. His co-driver is Torstein Eriksen. Career Østberg competed in his first rally in 2004. His first World Rally Championship event was the 2006 Swedish Rally, in which he finishe ...

and Torstein Eriksen won the WRC-2 Pro category, finishing first in the combined WRC-2 category, while the crew of Pedro Heller and

Marc Martí Marc Martí Moreno (born 1 October 1966) is a Spanish rally co-driver. Biography He debuted in the World Rally Championship (WRC) as a co-driver to Oriol Gómez in 1992. In the 1999 season, he began his partnership with Jesús Puras and th ...

won the wider WRC-2 class. Østberg's win marked the first World Championship victory for the R5-spec Citroën C3.

Background

Championship standings prior to the event

and

Nicolas Gilsoul Nicolas Gilsoul (born 5 February 1982) is a Belgian rally co-driver. He is the former co-driver for Thierry Neuville.

led both the drivers' and co-drivers' championships by two-points ahead of six-time world champions

Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champi ...

and

Julien Ingrassia Julien Ingrassia (born 26 November 1979) is a retired French rally co-driver. Working with Sébastien Ogier, he became World Rally Champion in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 with Volkswagen Motorsport, 2017 and 2018 with M-Sport World Rally Team ...

and

were third, a further three points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held a twelve-point lead over Citroën Total WRT. In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings, Łukasz Pieniążek and Kamil Heller held a twenty-two-point lead ahead of

Gus Greensmith Fergus "Gus" Greensmith (born 26 December 1996) is a British rally driver. Rally career Greensmith's family owns fuel and lubricants distributor Crown Oil. A former youth goalkeeper for Manchester City F.C. and karter before moving into the ...

and Elliott Edmondson in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively.

Kalle Rovanperä Kalle Rovanperä (; born 1 October 2000 in Jyväskylä) is a Finnish professional rally driver, who competes in the World Rally Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the reigning World Champion. As ...

and

Jonne Halttunen Jonne Halttunen (born 13 December 1985) is a Finnish rally co-driver. Currently, he is the co-driver of Kalle Rovanperä, driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Previously, they represented Škoda Motorsport to participate in the World Rally ...

were third, four points further back. In the manufacturers' championship,

M-Sport Ford WRT The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (formerly M-Sport World Rally Team, Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team and Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team) is the privately run World Rally Championship team of M-Sport, the firm run by Malcolm Wilson that was previ ...

lead

Škoda Motorsport Škoda Motorsport is the division of Czech car manufacturer Škoda Auto responsible for motorsport activities. The team had competed as a manufacturer in the World Rally Championship between 1999 and 2005 and Intercontinental Rally Challenge (b ...

by sixty-six points, with

eleven points further behind in third. In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by twelve points respectively.

Nikolay Gryazin Nikolay Stanislavovich Gryazin (born 7 October 1997) is a Russian rally driver currently competing under a neutral flag representing the Russian Automobile Federation. He is the son of former rally driver Stanislav Gryazin and the younger broth ...

and Yaroslav Fedorov were second, following by Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud in third.

Entry list

The following crews entered into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, WRC-2 Pro and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of twenty-seven entries were received, with ten crews entered with World Rally Cars and nine entered the World Rally Championship-2. Three crews were nominated to score points in the Pro class.

Route

No major changes are made to the route this year apart from some slight length-reductions to selected stages.

Itinerary

All dates and times are

ART Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

( UTC-3).

Report

World Rally Cars

Normally, the road cleaner has to endure the insufficient grip, but this year in Argentina was different — persistent rain over the previous forty-eight hours meant the road was muddy and difficult to drive through for the crews who started down the road order. As a result, championship leader

grabbed the lead as defending rally winner

lost valuable time with a broken drive shaft. The only casualty of the day was

Esapekka Lappi Esapekka Lappi (born 17 January 1991) is a Finnish rally driver. He is the 2012 Finnish Rally Champion, 2014 European Rally Champion and the 2016 WRC-2 Champion. Career 2012 Lappi won the 2012 Finnish Rally Championship with Ford Fiesta S2000 ...

, who was crashed out in the final stage of Friday and forced to retire from the rally. Coming to the second leg, the battle for the victory was extremely intense until Tänak stopped his Yaris due to an

alternator An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.G ...

failure in the afternoon loop. Another casualty of the leg was

Elfyn Evans Elfyn Rhys Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Welsh rally driver. He is currently teamed with Scott Martin and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Rally Championship. Career The son of 1996 British Rally Championship Champion an ...

, who rolled his Fiesta heavily after smashed a huge rock. As a result, the Welshman was forced to retire from the weekend. Defending world champion

lost

power steering A power steering is a mechanical device equipped on a motor vehicle that helps drivers steer the vehicle by reducing steering effort needed to turn the steering wheel, making it easier for the vehicle to turn or maneuver at lower speeds. Hydraul ...

in the morning loop, while

Kris Meeke Kris Meeke (born 2 July 1979) is a Northern Irish professional rally driver, best known for competing in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). He was the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion. His co-driver is Seb Marshall, also B ...

lost his

brake A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Backgroun ...

s. Following the drivers ahead suffered issues,

Andreas Mikkelsen Andreas Mikkelsen (born 22 June 1989) is a Norwegian rally driver. He is currently competing in the World Rally Championship-2 for Toksport World Rally Team. He previously drove for the factory teams of Volkswagen, Citroën and Hyundai in the W ...

charged himself to second overall after the oil-leak issue fixed. Eventually, the

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai As ...

duos managed to bring their team a 1-2 finish. Ogier completed the podium as Meeke receive a ten-second penalty for deviating from the correct route in Saturday morning's speed test.

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

World Rally Championship-2 Pro

comfortably led the rally despite a

puncture Puncture, punctured or puncturing may refer to: * a flat tyre in British English (US English "flat tire" or just "flat") * a penetrating wound caused by pointy objects as nails or needles * Lumbar puncture, also known as a spinal tap * Puncture ...

, over four minutes ahead of eighteen-year-old driver

Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Marco Bulacia Wilkinson (born 27 September 2000) is a Bolivian rally driver. He currently partners with co-driver Marcelo Der Ohannesian in the WRC-2 category. His younger brother Bruno is a rally driver also. Rally career Bulacia Wilkinson ma ...

, who won all three afternoon stages.

failed to complete the first leg with a broken front

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspen ...

. In the end, Østberg comfortably won his second victory of the season, following by Greensmith, who re-join the rally on Saturday. Bulacia Wilkinson rolled his Fabia at the opening stage, which forced to retire from the rally in leg two.

Classification

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.

Championship standings

World Rally Championship-2

The first leg produced four different leaders in progress. Takamoto Katsuta was the first leader, but a

and broken wheel rim deposited his Fiesta into a ditch;

Kajetan Kajetanowicz Kajetan Kajetanowicz (born 5 March 1979) is a Polish rally driver. Titles He is a Four time Poland Rally Champion (2010 2011, 2012, 2013). In 2012 he became champion in the Central European Zone Rally Championship. He also became the ERC ...

was the second leader, but he broke his rear

after landing heavily over a jump;

Alberto Heller Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Alberti ...

was the third leader, but he stopped in the penultimate test when his Fiesta's engine auxiliary belt broke. Eventually, the fourth leader Pedro Heller topped the category by almost six minutes after a day of attrition. Having a trouble-free Saturday, Pedro took the victory after overcame a big scare that the car stopped less than one kilometer from the finish of the iconic El Condór special stage.

Classification

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.

Championship standings

Notes

References

External links

* * 2019

i
''e-wrc website''
* Th
official website
of the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. There are separate championships ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rally Argentina, 2019

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

2019 in Argentine motorsport April 2019 sports events in South America

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...